Madame de Treymes

A free-spirited young American attempts to extricate herself from a failed marriage to an aristocratic Frenchman in Edith Wharton’s entertaining novella. “Madame de Treymes,” written in 1907, offers a concise perspective on the differences between American and French society from the vantage point of a master storyteller who is also an astute observer of European manners and customs.This compilation of Wharton’s short fiction features three additional stories. “Autres Temps …” tells of a woman who fled New York society after the scandalous dissolution of her marriage but is compelled to return upon the occasion of her daughter’s divorce and hasty remarriage. “The Long Run” centers on a businessman’s failure to accept an offer of love that’s accompanied by the risk of social stigma. In “The Triumph of Night,” a psychological thriller, a greedy uncle tries to appropriate a young relative’s inheritance. These thought-provoking stories reflect their author’s characteristic interest in the innate hypocrisy of society, generational conflicts, and challenges to moral courage.