A review by 5aru
Summer by Edith Wharton

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This made me genuinely very sad. I feel very touched by stories like these — like with Tess of the D'Urbervilles, though (only slightly) less rapey. Young girls who get taken advantage of, who struggle to live in a world where the odds are stacked against them, really tug at my heartstrings.

And I have yet to see an author that is quite so merciless to her heroines as Edith Wharton. The tragedy of the (rather unsatisfying) ending is made more poignant by the fact that Charity wanted so badly to run away, to become a better version of herself — yet was thoroughly tied down, trapped by the society and people she despises and disregards. The comparison with Lily Bart is inevitable, yet I can't help but be softer for Charity, if only because of her youth and inexperience.
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