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Roman Fever

In these elegant and devastating tales of deception, desire and social intrigue, Edith Wharton exposes the brittle veneer of civility that masks human ambition and longing.

From the sunlit terraces of Rome to the drawing rooms of New York, Wharton’s characters navigate a world bound by class and convention, yet charged with emotional undercurrents they barely understand. In 'Roman Fever', two middle-aged women confront the unspoken rivalries that have shadowed their friendship for decades; in 'Mrs. Manstey’s View', a lonely widow’s cherished glimpse of life beyond her window becomes the stage for a quiet tragedy; and in 'After Holbein', the elaborate pretences of two ageing New Yorkers reveal the haunting persistence of vanity and illusion.

About Edith Wharton

Edith Wharton was born in New York City on January 24, 1862. Edith married Teddy Wharton, who was 12 years older. They lived a life of relative ease with homes in New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. Edith became a prolific writer and produced over 40 books in 40 years.
Edith divorced Teddy in 1912, having no immediate heirs, and never married again. She was the first woman awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, an honorary Doctorate of Letters from Yale University, and a full membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Her novels became so popular that Ms. Wharton was able to live comfortably on her earnings the rest of her life. Edith continued to write until a stroke took her life in August 1937.
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