Summer

By: Edith Wharton

Narrated by: Grace Conlin

Wharton's most erotic and lyrical novel, Summer explores a daring theme for 1917, a woman's awakening to her sexuality. Eighteen-year-old Charity Royall lives in the small town of North Dormer, ignorant of desire until the arrival of architect Lucius Harney. Like the succulent summer landscape in the Berkshires around them, Charity's romance is lush and picturesque, but its consequences are harsh and real.

Praised for its realism and candor by such writers as Joseph Conrad and Henry James and compared to Flaubert's Madame Bovary, Summer was one of Wharton's personal favorites of all her novels and remains as fresh and relevant today as when it was first written.

(P)1994 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Reader Grace Conlin distinguishes both men's and women's voices easily, using hushed, intimate tones to convey the sweetness of the romance. Yet an ephemeral quality in her delivery casts a shadow of reality on the story and reminds the listener that seasons change." (AudioFile)

Excellent first audible purchase!

Grace Conlin is a great reader. At first I thought she was going to be too fast, but her pacing is excellent. She sweeps you right into the story. And this is a concise Wharton tale. Similar tragic tones to her other books. However, some lovely descriptions of New England countryside in the summer. A sad contrast to her heroine. I'm not done yet, about half way, but I find myself looking for excuses to pop in the headphones and listen.

My favorite Wharton book so far

This is the third book of hers I've read. It's the least depressing, which is a good thing in my opinion. E. Wharton wrote beautiful prose and also knew how to tell a fast-paced story. My book club had a very lively discussion about class, gender, marriage, nature, and other interesting issues raised by this book.

Beguiling and Devastating

The Gilded Age indeed—gilded women in gilded cages. There is always a long suffering man who swoops down to rescue the wayward maiden. She is wayward in mind if not in body; intellectually if not in her determination to live as her authentic self. The wayward man slips embarrassedly but relievedly away without sanction.

The lover is this Wharton gem is beguiling. I was half seduced by him myself. Wharton’s descriptions of her wayward protagonist’s experiences are veiled but unmistakably erotic: The protagonist presses her body into the warm grass as she lolls on round hills, gazing into a shimmering blue sky. As she flowers in her lovers arms, Wharton lavishly describes the blooms of summer. There are many glimmering moon rises and piercing dawns; the
bulk of a mountain looming over the town are rolled out again and again lest the reader miss the point
But I don’t mind it because Wharton’s prose is a delight.

The story is devastating. Nothing has changed since this book was published in 1916. Women still have price tags dangling from them —the appraisals of men. The terms of value have changed; and the gilded cages much more disguised. But they serve the same devastating purpose.

Good, Quick, Read

good quick read...bummer of an ending though. Highly recommend if you're a fan of Edith Wharton, or novels from this era.

The negative reviews frightened me

but I found the story enchanting, enthralling and somewhat ominously predictable. My first Edith Wharton but I believe I'll try another.

An Edith Wharton novel that is not sad

For Edith Wharton Summer has as a happy ending. I tried to imagine where the story took place. A small but rugged mountain range in New Hampshire , I reckoned. Charity’s lover sure was a swine. The historical and sociological details that are an integral part of the story were really interesting.

The moral of the story

It is very difficult to judge the story set against 2023 sensibilities. Certainly, this book is beautifully written. And I’m not going to give away the ending. Suffice to say thank god women have a lot more choices than they used to.

Required "Summer" reading

Grace Conlin's initial rapid delivery of Edith Wharton's sensitive penetration of the Summer of adolescent dreams collapsing into the Fall of the realities of adult choices is worth the investment of the listener's patience. Once Conlin settles into her natural rhythm, she crafts a gem that should become the centerpiece of the setting of required summer reading for every high school girl--and her mother.

Unsatisfying end

I like Edith Wharton and I was pleased to find a lesser known novel of hers to listen to.

The story is okay, and the main character is interesting, even though she is frustrating and kind of unlikeable at times.

My biggest complaint about this novel is the end. It’s as if Wharton got tired of writing and didn’t know how to finish her novel. Be warned, this novel has an insanely unsatisfying ending.

Interesting story

I love these period novels. This one was a bit slow. But, I was unsure of the end until the last syllable