Edith Wharton's Xingu and Other Stories (1916) collects eight tales mostly from old New York -- the setting of her masterpiece novel, "The Age of Innocence." But only some of these shorter works are about the world of "idle and opulent people" she knew so well. Others will be a surprise to anyone who expects Wharton to limit her interests to manners and marriages . She came from a rich family, but she wasn't idle. She defied the conventions of her time to write at all, let alone to slip a needle-sharp little claw into the pretensions of her own class. Here, the title story, "Xingu," is a sly comedy about the great-great-grandmothers of today's ladies-who-lunch. These "huntresses of erudition" meet to discuss culture, and none will admit she doesn't know what "Xingu" means. (Bonus points to the reader who does.) "Kerfol" is something else, though -- a creepy mystery. And "Brunner Sisters" is a full-blown melodrama about two women who shouldn't "oughter" let a no-good man come between 'em. High-brow as she was, Wharton also knew words like "oughter," and she understood the Brunner sisters' run-down world of low expectations and yellow teeth. In "Autres Temps," she writes about a woman whose life has become "a tight little room of habit and association." Wharton knew the feeling, but in this collection, she escapes it.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Charming and Witty,
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This review is from: Xingu. (Paperback)
Xingu is an excellent story highlighting how Victorian women seemed to think that they knew everything. Each character is a conflict of interests, from the headstrong Mrs. Ballinger to the timid Mrs. Leveret. The characters are brilliantly portrayed and their interactions are hilarious. Read it and find out all about "Xingu".
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Ann Eliza, Miss Mellins, Osric Dane, Miss Van Vluyck, New York, Lunch Club, Miss Suffern, Miss Bunner, Laura Glyde, Yves de Cornault, Miss Glyde, Frank Rainer, Hervé de Lanrivain, Susy Suffern, Lorin Boulger, John Lavington, Franklin Ide, Anne de Cornault, Jean de Rkchamp, Fanny Roby, The Wings of Death, Good God, Appropriate Allusions, Roman Catholic, Charlotte Wynn Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Ann Eliza, Miss Mellins, Osric Dane, Miss Van Vluyck, New York, Lunch Club, Miss Suffern, Miss Bunner, Laura Glyde, Yves de Cornault, Miss Glyde, Frank Rainer, Hervé de Lanrivain, Susy Suffern, Lorin Boulger, John Lavington, Franklin Ide, Anne de Cornault, Jean de Rkchamp, Fanny Roby, The Wings of Death, Good God, Appropriate Allusions, Roman Catholic, Charlotte Wynn Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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