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93:. It was published by D. Appleton & Company. It concerns a romance between a widow and her former lover. The novel takes place in Paris and rural France, but primarily features American characters. While writing the novel, Edith Wharton visited England, Sicily, and Germany, among other locations. In a letter to Bernard Berenson in November 1912, Wharton expressed regret regarding her novel, calling it a “poor miserable lifeless lump”. She wrote, “Anyhow, remember it’s not me, though I thought it was when I was writing it—& that next time I’m going to do something worthwhile!!”
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113:. They speak of their future and of Anna's stepson Owen, who wishes to marry a woman of whom his grandmother, Dowager Marquise de Chantelle, does not approve. Additionally, Darrow informs Anna of his plans for their future together: he hopes to move to South America together for his job. It is revealed that Anna has hired a governess for her young daughter, Effie. That governess is Sophy Viner.
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Sophy Viner, a woman he had previously encountered but never gotten to know thoroughly . Sophy, although down on her luck, is an ambitious aspiring actress determined to start a new life in France. Enthralled, Darrow convinces her to spend a few days with him so he can show her around Paris. During their time spent together, the two enter into a romantic affair.
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Sophy, embarrassed by the situation, begs Darrow not to say anything that might jeopardize her employment. Darrow tries to convince Sophy not to marry Owen, and Sophy accuses him of jealousy. Darrow admits to Anna that he knew Sophy already. Anna quizzes him about Sophy, out of concern for Owen, who
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The novel begins with Darrow preparing to join Anna in France when he receives a telegram ordering him to wait "til thirtieth" because of an "unexpected obstacle" - one of many such delays Anna has ordered. Deeply humiliated and disappointed, Darrow boards the boat regardless and runs into the young
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George Darrow, an
American diplomat residing in London, has remained in contact with his former love, Anna Leath, who previously married another man. Now widowed, she resumes contact with Darrow. Darrow desires to continue the relationship he had with Anna but remains concerned about her commitment
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Sophy eventually reveals to Darrow that she has loved him since Paris. The affair between Darrow and Sophy is revealed to Anna. Darrow attempts to explain that the affair was short lived, but Anna cannot live with the knowledge and becomes convinced that the revelation destroyed any potential for a
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Sophy unexpectedly breaks off the engagement to Owen. Owen becomes suspicious of Darrow's influence over Sophy. The main characters then attempt to figure out what happened by interrogating each other. This part of the novel shows an increase in dialogue, and an unusually high rate of dialogue for
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she was additionally learning about her husband’s affairs after years of a sexless marriage. It is commonly believed that Anna and Sophy represent
Wharton before and after her encounter with Fullerton, with Anna representing the sexually repressed woman that Wharton once feared she would remain.
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Owen leaves for Spain. Sophy is reemployed by Mrs. Murrett, her previous employer, and moves to India. Anna encounters Sophy's large, slovenly sister and her lover, which gives Anna the perspective that Sophy is not as much of a fallen woman as she originally thought. Anna attempts to convince
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The
Dowager Marquise requests that an old family friend, Adelaide Painter, talk some sense into the family. However, when Adelaide supports the union, the Marquise concedes to her grandson. The road is clear for Owen and Sophy to marry, which also frees the path for Darrow and Anna.
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on
November 23, 1912, the book was described as “a bitter, disheartening, sordid story and we could wish that Mrs. Wharton would look on brighter and nobler aspects of life." Similarly, in his review, H.I. Brock called the book “rather conspicuously a failure”.
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Despite the fact that Anna believes herself to be well matched with Darrow, she is unable to overcome her jealousy of Sophy. She becomes obsessed with imagining the time they spent together.
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to work on possible problems troubling her at the time, specifically her first experience of passionate love that involved Morton
Fullerton. While Wharton was writing
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herself that she should not marry Darrow, but cannot bring herself to do it.
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Tuttleton, James W.; Lauer, Kristen O.; Murray, Margaret P., eds. (1992).
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Months later, Darrow meets Anna at her French country chateau at
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205:: Servant in Murrett household, associate of Sophy's sister
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Sophy has been described as "Wharton's natural alter ego."
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213:In a review published in the
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321:. Berkeley: U of California.
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153:: American widow living in
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639:The Book of the Homeless
612:The Decoration of Houses
503:The Glimpses of the Moon
301:The Contemporary Reviews
841:Novels by Edith Wharton
689:The Marriage Playground
585:The Greater Inclination
332:Lee, Hermione (2007).
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390:The Reef (audio book)
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234:Adaptations
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161:Sophy Viner
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764:Television
380:Faded Page
265:References
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151:Anna Leath
140:Characters
631:As editor
251:Sela Ward
55:Publisher
20:The Reef
745:The Reef
530:Novellas
471:The Reef
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382:(Canada)
375:The Reef
363:The Reef
241:The Reef
227:The Reef
223:The Reef
86:The Reef
47:Language
803:Related
97:Summary
50:English
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783:(1995)
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657:Film
257:and
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
