Novel Travels - Ethan Frome/Edith Wharton

While I found Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome tragic and hard to put down, her House of Mirth and Age of Innocence brought turn-of-the-century New York City, with it's complex social structure, to life for me. Therefore, while I should be concentrating this post on Ethan Frome, I'm really interested in Edith Wharton's New York City: what of it is left and what can I see?

Thankfully, the Edith Wharton Society has a helpful list on their FAQ. Starting with Grace Church at Broadway and 11th Street where she was christened. Edith lived at the house on 14 West 23rd Street, but it has been changed over the years. In 1885, Edith got married at Trinity Chapel at 15 West 25th Street, which is now Serbian Orthodox Church of Saint Sava.

And that is about all of Edith Wharton's New York, New York. Honestly, I expected more. This New Times article sheds a little light onto her life in the city and her feelings toward it (she spent most of her life abroad).

Of course, when I think of Edith Wharton, I also think of her friendship with Henry James, which leads me to Washington Square, the novel, and Washington Square, the park. While near the park, I would visit the Merchant's House Museum at 29 East 4th Street. It was built before Edith's time, in 1832, and was not a home for the upper crust of society, but it is a fun glimpse into city life in the 19th century.

To get an even better idea of how Edith Wharton's characters lived, one would have to leave the city and visit the estates along the Hudson River Valley. I think any of them would be worth the trip. Supposedly, Edith's aunt built the (now ruins only) Wyndcliffe, near Rhinebeck, New York.

Finally, on this fantasy trip of mine, I would leave New York state entirely to visit The Mount in Lenox, Massachusetts. Edith purchased the Mount in 1902 and lived there off and on for years.