What We Thought: The Age of Desire by Jennie Fields

The Evening Readers Book Club discussion of Jennie Fields’ The Age of Desire began with a show of hands of how many members liked the book. Most did, and a few said they loved it. Some were put off by the content and did not finish reading it.

Members who liked the story were not happy with the selfish and indulgent behavior of practically all of the main characters, especially Edith Wharton. She was careless and carefree in the pursuit of a passionate relationship with an unsympathetic lover at the expense of her marriage and respect of her one lifelong, true friend and confidant. It was decided that Edith’s behavior was typical of the time period, the Gilded Age, and her place in it as a wealthy woman and famous writer. People are a product of their times and unacceptable and uncomfortable behavior today would have been tolerated and even recognized as normal then.

It was decided that the book was not a chick book, but was true historical fiction and for the most part an accurate representation of a particular time frame in the life of Edith Wharton. Members were satisfied with the epilog and Edith’s life after she ended her affair with the journalist William Fullerton and divorced her husband. Finally she dedicates herself and her resources to find fulfillment in helping others. She also realizes what a great friendship and collaboration her former governess Anna brought to her life. Sadly, she came to this realization very late in life and did not have much time to make up for her neglect.

All were fascinated with pictures of The Mount -- Edith’s grand country place in Lenox, Massachusetts -- and the connection with Brockton, Mass. The Mount has been fully restored and is a tourist destination with lovely gardens and an enormous mansion.

This Month's Selection: Doc by Mary Doria Russell

 

 This month's Evening Readers Book Club selection is Doc by Mary Doria Russell, a national bestseller when it was published in 2011.

From the publisher:

Born to the life of a Southern gentleman, Dr. John Henry Holliday arrives on the Texas frontier hoping that the dry air and sunshine of the West will restore him to health. Soon, with few job prospects, Doc Holliday is gambling professionally with his partner, Mária Katarina Harony, a high-strung, classically educated Hungarian whore. In search of high-stakes poker, the couple hits the saloons of Dodge City. And that is where the unlikely friendship of Doc Holliday and a fearless lawman named Wyatt Earp begins— before the gunfight at the O.K. Corral links their names forever in American frontier mythology—when neither man wanted fame or deserved notoriety.

The Evening Readers Book Club will discuss Doc on Tuesday, November 19, at 6:30 p.m., but you don't have to be a member of the group to add your comments to the discussion. Read along with us, or tell us what you thought, if you've already read this book!

This Month's Selection: The Age of Desire by Jennie Fields

From the Publisher

For fans of The Paris Wife, a sparkling glimpse into the life of Edith Wharton and the scandalous love affair that threatened her closest friendship

They say behind every great man is a woman. Behind Edith Wharton, there was Anna Bahlmann—her governess turned literary secretary, and her mothering, nurturing friend.

When at the age of forty-five, Edith falls passionately in love with a dashing younger journalist, Morton Fullerton, and is at last opened to the world of the sensual, it threatens everything certain in her life but especially her abiding friendship with Anna. As Edith’s marriage crumbles and Anna’s disapproval threatens to shatter their lifelong bond, the women must face the fragility at the heart of all friendships.

Told through the points of view of both women, The Age of Desire takes us on a vivid journey through Wharton’s early Gilded Age world: Paris with its glamorous literary salons and dark secret cafés, the Whartons’ elegant house in Lenox, Massachusetts, and Henry James’s manse in Rye, England.

Edith’s real letters and intimate diary entries are woven throughout the book. The Age of Desire brings to life one of literature’s most beloved writers, whose own story was as complex and nuanced as that of any of the heroines she created.

Click here to read an excerpt from The Age of Desire.

 

The Evening Readers Book Club will discuss The Age of Desire on Tuesday, October 22, at 6:30 p.m., but you don't have to be a member of the face-to-face group to add your comments to the discussion!