Book 2: Summer by Edith Wharton

Title: Summer
Author: Edith Wharton
Length: 198 pages
Year Written: 1918
Why I chose this book: Randomly saw and ordered on Amazon a few months ago; Wharton's Ethan Frome was required reading in my 10th grade English class (although I skimmed and SparkNoted more than I read).

This book is nearly 100 years old (and I'd also never heard of it prior to purchasing it online), so I don't think a proclamation of "spoiler alert" is necessary for this post, but I'll say it anyway. Spoiler alert: if, for some reason, you had been planning to read this book, and don't already know what happens, do not continue reading this post.

Summer is the story of Charity, a teenage girl born into a dirt-poor mountain village of "savages" and social lepers, who is adopted by Mr. Royall, a successful lawyer from the valley town below, and his wife who at some point passes away. Charity one day meets Lucius Harney, a visiting relative of her boss at the town library, who is conducting research on her small, boring town, North Dormer. Anyway, Charity and Lucius fall into some kind of love, while her widowed guardian proposes to her several times. She possesses a spirited hatred for Mr. Royall throughout the bulk of the story—until Lucius leaves, promises to marry her once he's "taken care of a few things," she hears he's already engaged to one of the "fancy" girls she knows, she finds out she's pregnant and considers abortion, goes to find her mom in the mountains only to arrive in time to see her frozen, dead body, and is then "rescued from the mountains" (for the second time) by the old, saggy Royall. In the end, everything boils down to what could be the least romantic conclusion expected. She marries Mr. Royall, and sends off a letter to Lucius that she'll always remember him.

For a book written so long ago, so many themes of romantic relationships and the expectations that come with that territory were explored that have persisted through time. Charity knew that Lucius loved her, but also knew that a man of his nature would inevitably be dissatisfied with a woman of her kind (whatever that really means). She was born in the mountains to a couple of rogue mountain folk, and had never seen anything except North Dormer. Lucius wore expensive clothes, traveled frequently, and bought Charity a glamorous brooch like it was a bag of peanuts. Charity's decision to marry her guardian (shudder) was a loaded move. Instead of retaining hope for her fanciful dreams of one day meeting back up with Lucius and traversing New York and other unseen parts of the world, she sided with safety and comfort and the knowledge that her baby would be born into the security and stability of a boring North Dormer home. Lucius was passionate but flighty. Royall was old and disgusting but dependable. After seeing her mom dead in a destitute shack, Charity decided that this was the best thing to do for both herself and her child. Pretty heavy stuff. I finished the book not feeling sad or happy or satisfied with the ending, but with an understanding of the human plight and the force behind so many of our hardest decisions.

Rating: 8/10