Despite the popularity of Edith Wharton's novels and stories, her artistic genius has never been fully appreciated. Accordingly, this book provides new readings of such familiar favourites as "The House of Mirth" and "The Age of Innocence" as well as neglected works such as "Twilight Sleep" and "The Glimpses of the Moon". The effect of this study is to require reassessment not only of the critical possibilities of Edith Wharton's work and the private life about which she was so reticent, but also of her position in American literature. The book concludes that as a bridge between the Victorian and modern periods, Edith Wharton should stand independently as an American writer of the first rank.