Twilight Sleep

pick

#WhartonBuddyRead
Finally finished this one. I enjoyed the satire, particularly Pauline‘s self obsession and pursuit of ways to avoid genuine feeling for anyone else. Lita struck me as an updated Undine Spragg - Hollywood would be exactly the sort of society which would have appealed to her. I wish the ending had been clearer, I would at least like to know why Lita agreed not to divorce.

Lcsmcat, Graywacke

Rissreadswithcats That cover is divine! I‘m still to read something by Wharton. I‘ll get there. 9mo

batsy Great review. Agree that more clarity re: the ending would have made this more razor sharp. 9mo

Graywacke I guess Lita can always change her mind later. Nice post 9mo

LeahBergen Great review! 9mo

Lcsmcat I‘m with @Graywacke - I don‘t think anything was fixed permanently! 9mo

57 likes5 comments

Graywacke

Twilight Sleep | Edith Wharton

pick

This finally comes across as a playful satire on 1920‘s NY moneyed culture, mocking supposed progress and 1920‘s shallowness, spiritual fads, bad parenting and human frailties. But there are real weighty elements here. The youthful 1920‘s are represented in Lita and Nona. Clear-sighted Lita wants to be admired, maybe a movie star, disowning responsibility for consequences. Nona quietly sacrifices herself to manage her family‘s failures.

Graywacke #whartonbuddyread 10mo

batsy "manage her family's failures" is so accurate! (and bleak) 10mo

45 likes2 comments

batsy

Twilight Sleep | Edith Wharton

pick

This was like a satirical Fitzgerald; depressing & amusing all at once. Characters that needed to be more thoughtful were a tad underdeveloped, as such (Nona). But I felt for her & almost wish there was a sequel where she gets her own version of a "happy ending". A 3-star pick because it didn't quite stick the landing as I expected it to, but it's astutely Whartonian in how it exposes the vacuousness of the capitalist elite. #WhartonBuddyRead

Yuki_Onna #coverlove 👏 10mo

Graywacke Glad you gave it a pick. Not my favorite Wharton either, but I‘m certainly glad i read it. Maybe a different ending ties it better. 10mo

batsy @Yuki_Onna It's so well-suited to the book 🙂 10mo

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batsy @Graywacke I'm glad I read it, too. You can sense her discomfort with modern norms; it gives this book more of a cynical edge than her other works. 10mo

Leftcoastzen It felt Fitzgerald-y to me as well. 10mo

batsy @Leftcoastzen It's very interesting! Considering that Gatsby and this one were published within a few years of each other. 10mo

90 likes6 comments

Graywacke

Twilight Sleep | Edith Wharton

Twilight Sleep was originally released in a series in Pictorial Review with this cover, before the book was released and temporarily became a bestseller.

So, what did you think? Did you understand the end? (If not, Wikipedia has it laid out in the plot summary.) Like The Glimpses of the Moon, I think this was a Wharton having a little fun with satire, but here also playing with perspectives. #whartonbuddread

Lcsmcat

Graywacke @AllDebooks @amysisson @Ann_Reads @arubabookwoman @batsy @BookishTrish @CarolynM @catebutler @Catherine_Willoughby @Cathythoughts @cindyash 10mo

Graywacke @Crazeedi @Currey @dabbe @Daisey @emilyhaldi @IMASLOWREADER @IndoorDame @jewright @KathyWheeler @kspenmoll @Leftcoastzen @LitStephanie 10mo

Graywacke @llwheeler @Louise @rubyslippersreads @SamAnne @sarahbellum @Sparklemn @Suet624 @Tamra @TheBookHippie @willaful 10mo

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Currey @Graywacke I, more or less, understood the ending or certainly as much as Wharton wanted me to. Of course, it is ambiguous as to whether Nona went upstairs to the rescue or went up to confirm her own suspicions but her stepping in the way of the bullet or stumbling into the room at the right time leaves us with the same sense of “waste”. What I was surprised about was Lita traveling with her husband. I don‘t think she would have any remorse 10mo

Lcsmcat I think their life was described well in this quote about Pauline: “Her whole life (if one chose to look at it from a certain angle) had been a long uninterrupted struggle against the encroachment of every form of pain.” 10mo

Lcsmcat So perhaps, @currey Lits felt the need to get out of NYC and away from the pain of being involved in such a sordid situation as quickly as possible. Or perhaps they forced her because they didn‘t trust her to stick to the story. (edited) 10mo

Lcsmcat Poor Nona. All the way through I felt for her. It was like she was born into the wrong family. 10mo

Currey @Lcsmcat Wrong family and wrong era. 10mo

Graywacke @Lcsmcat @Currey Nona was an unlikely hero, or “hero”. But maybe she should have let the bullet find its proper target… 10mo

Graywacke @Currey on Lita and Jim: i think Lita was sent as far from Hollywood as possible. Assuming Pauline still lives in denial, and believing that money solves all human problems and pains, she is still working to solve the marriage problem and keep Lita away from movie stars or other men Lita might like. 10mo

Currey @Graywacke @Lcsmcat well Dexter was truly guilty but it would have been Arthur who would be punished. I thought Wharton‘s depiction of quick thinking Bowden, the butler , was wonderful. Before anyone else had even grasped the situation, he had a solution to “how it looked”, and didn‘t think twice about who was guilty and who should be punished (edited) 10mo

Graywacke @Currey yeah, he was clever (Powder in my edition ) Pauline‘s staff is fantastic. I had to like all of them. (edited) 10mo

Graywacke @Lcsmcat i think that quote does sum up Pauline especially well. She‘s really intent on avoiding psychological pain. 10mo

Currey @Graywacke oh, yes Powder, misremembered. 10mo

Currey @Graywacke Lcsmcat regarding Pauline and psychological pain. It was very ironic that she had no idea of how much she was inflicting psychological pain on others 10mo

Lcsmcat @Currey Yes, she pushed all of hers on to someone else. I think that was even made explicit when Nona was talking about visiting Maisie‘s mother in the hospital. I‘ll have to look for it. 10mo

Lcsmcat @Graywacke I don‘t think Nona could have done anything but what she did. She seemed to spend her whole life taking care of other‘s issues. 10mo

cindyash
@Ldsmcat and it was horrible how she didn't listen to anyone and totally ignore their feelins. esp poor masie and poor nona. And then thet just all go off as if nothing had happened

10mo

Graywacke A long quote from an essay about TS. Should take several posts. Begins here: The rather disturbing reversal of roles in The Mother‘s Recompense - Anne Clephane‘s ‘mothering‘ of the woman who abandoned her at the age of three and Chris Fenno‘s desire to marry the daughter after having had an affair with the mother – becomes translated into obviously dysfunctional relationships in Twilight Sleep. Nona takes on the cares and responsibilities 👇 10mo

Graywacke 👆 of her family, while her workaholic father seeks escape from the boredom of marriage in an affair with his stepson‘s wife, and her mother rushes from pillar to post pursuing the latest fads, unaware that her family is malfunctioning around her. To drive home her point about inadequate parenting, Wharton also presents Kitty Landish and Amalasuntha as predatory parental figures 👇 10mo

Graywacke 👆 who hope to make a fortune, respectively, out of Lita‘s and Michelangelo‘s cinematic careers. 10mo

Graywacke That quote is from Edith Wharton: Sex, Satire and the Older Woman by Avril Horner and Janet Beer @Lcsmcat @Currey @cindyash or others - any thoughts in that? 10mo

batsy Yes, that quote really summed it up @Lcsmcat ! 10mo

batsy I like Nona but wanted her to be more developed; more of her POV would have been nice. I keep thinking about Pauline's narcissism & how her parenting is actually damaging to Nona so that's a very interesting quote about "predatory parenting" @Graywacke Not to mention Dexter's total self-involvement. It's interesting that Wharton keeps mentioning the "Taylorized" wellness solutions; both Dexter and Pauline submitted themselves to automated lives. 10mo

batsy And what's shown as the frivolousness of youth is actually a rejection of that rote life of productivity by both Nona and Lita in very different ways, because different characters. 10mo

Lcsmcat @Graywacke I think the essay gets the role reversals right, but stops short in my mind. Why was Wharton focusing on near-incest, for lack of a better word? Is she trying to say that capital S Society is incestuous? I feel like I‘m missing something. 10mo

Lcsmcat @batsy I agree that Lita and Nona are rebelling. I think Nona‘s is a more mature rebellion, but they are both a bit more reactive than proactive in their lives. 10mo

Graywacke @batsy @Lcsmcat interesting to compare Nona and Lita as parallel rejectors, in a way. My instinct is to not to see Lita as immature, because she seems very clear about what she wants. She doesn‘t have genetic baggage, no ties to any moral codes. So she sets her own. Nona is, in a way, tied down by expectations of decency. But i‘ll have to think on that more. Not sure it holds up 10mo

Graywacke @Lcsmcat so interesting, lovers pursuing parent and child in two successive novels. Did i say interesting? It‘s weird and disturbing. But…where did it come from? Clearly philandering was common in her world, but that this particular trait common? !! 10mo

Lcsmcat @Graywacke My vision of Lita as immature is the way she doesn‘t care how her actions affect (and hurt) others. (Toddlers are usually clear about what they want in a given moment. 😂) Pauline is similar in this respect. As well as being hypocritical in thinking Lita getting a divorce is unthinkable, yet she‘s on her second marriage. (edited) 10mo

Graywacke @Lcsmcat all true! But Lita is willfully indifferent of other people. They are there only to amuse and admire her. It‘s a developed skillset. 🙂😁 10mo

jewright @Graywacke—Do you like Lita is having a bit of a midlife crisis? She got married and had a baby and then freaked out about missing out on fun. I mean honestly who wouldn‘t want a chance to star in movies? 10mo

Graywacke @jewright i wouldn‘t want a Lita anywhere in my family. !! I wouldn‘t want to deal with her. Phew. But, you know, we have them anyway - in every family and elsewhere in life. 10mo

38 likes33 comments

Graywacke

Twilight Sleep | Edith Wharton

The image is from a 1916 documentary of the Twilight Sleep birth process (women only)

Book II - #whartonbuddyread

Characters develop. Mostly the Pauline satire (and the Alvah Loft frustration cure), but also a lot more on Lita, Dexter, Nona, and Stanley. We meet masked Aggie Heuston and Kitty Landish. And learn of Cleo Merrick.

Does Lita have issues, or Pauline offended by the lack of appreciation? Any thoughts on this transitional section?

Lcsmcat

Graywacke @AllDebooks @amysisson @Ann_Reads @arubabookwoman @batsy @BookishTrish @CarolynM @catebutler @Catherine_Willoughby @Cathythoughts @Crazeedi 10mo

Graywacke @Currey @dabbe @Daisey @emilyhaldi @IMASLOWREADER @IndoorDame @jewright @KathyWheeler @kspenmoll @Leftcoastzen @LitStephanie @llwheeler 10mo

Graywacke @Louise @rubyslippersreads @SamAnne @sarahbellum @Sparklemn @Suet624 @Tamra @TheBookHippie @willaful 10mo

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Lcsmcat Some quotes I liked. “But when she had to compose a speech, though words never failed her, the mysterious relations between them sometimes did.” 10mo

Lcsmcat “Perhaps, after all, her own principles were really obsolete to her children. Only, what was to take their place?” and “They seemed, all of them—lawyers, bankers, brokers, railway-directors and the rest—to be cheating their inner emptiness with activities as futile as those of the women they went home to.” 10mo

Lcsmcat It all points to a feeling that the lives of the privileged class were frustrated with pointlessness. And they don‘t even quite know that they‘re searching for meaning. 10mo

Graywacke @Lcsmcat on Pauline “Sternly she addressed herself to relaxation” 10mo

Lcsmcat @Graywacke 😂🤣😂 10mo

Graywacke @Lcsmcat on the pointlessness: there is a link between the blindness of Pauline and clear-sighted blindness of Lita. (One of my takes: Pauline holds the NY culture values even as she breaks them. Lita‘s ignorance of these values comes from believing what she sees.) 10mo

Lcsmcat @Graywacke That‘s a good way to look at it. 10mo

Currey @lcsmcat oh that is good. I was moving this week. I did the reading, but not sure I did the thinking. 🤔 10mo

Graywacke @Currey it‘s kind of a transition section. More of the same. 🤷🏻‍♂️ Not really a conversation sparker. 10mo

Graywacke @Currey i just processed “moving”. That‘s consuming. Hope it went well and you‘re settling in ok. 10mo

Currey @Graywacke I know where the coffee is but not much else, but it will get better 10mo

Graywacke @Currey coffee helps! 10mo

CarolynM I‘m behind. I‘ll come back to the comments when I catch up🙂 10mo

Lcsmcat @Currey If you know where the coffee and the spoons are you‘re half way there. 10mo

cindyash @Graywacke I really got a chuckle from that whole paragraph 10mo

batsy I just caught up with the reading, but I'm not sure what I think yet! Mainly I feel an awful sense of emptiness contemplating Lita's boredom and Pauline's cultivated sense of denial—perhaps akin to the present day "wellness" obsession. If one can control and submit oneself to potions and therapies and enforced relaxation, one can hope to avoid one's life? 10mo

Graywacke @batsy your question seems to be theme so far. And emptiness 10mo

37 likes20 comments

Graywacke

Twilight Sleep | Edith Wharton

Twilight Sleep : Book one
#whartonbuddyread

Flapper shocker? 🤷🏻‍♂️ What are your thoughts on Nona, Lita, Pauline and her men?

We are in Wharton‘s later books. She‘s experimenting, and she‘s bringing middle aged women to life. So as we sigh at her Pauline satire, also take a moment to think why Wharton spends so much time on her.

Lcsmcat

Graywacke @AllDebooks @amysisson @Ann_Reads @arubabookwoman @batsy @BookishTrish @CarolynM @catebutler @Catherine_Willoughby 11mo

Graywacke @Cathythoughts @Crazeedi @Currey @dabbe @Daisey @emilyhaldi @IMASLOWREADER @IndoorDame @jewright @KathyWheeler 11mo

Graywacke @kspenmoll @Leftcoastzen @LitStephanie @llwheeler @Louise @rubyslippersreads @SamAnne @sarahbellum @Sparklemn @Suet624 @Tamra @TheBookHippie @willaful 11mo

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Currey @Graywacke Both Pauline and Lita were closer to caricature than Wharton usually goes. Pauline‘s defense of the “dark” man because she wants her retreat made me very uneasy. (I know, I know….the time it was written in). However, I am liking Nona and of course simply reading Wharton‘s prose. (edited) 11mo

TheBookHippie I love the prose. I had to remind myself several times the time it was written in because 😬… however I think it makes you think, and makes you feel the characters and did it when it was written as well? She writes flawed very well. 11mo

Graywacke @Currey Pauline‘s ability to rationalize all contradictions, even contradictory public speeches, was quite interesting. I‘m puzzling about Wharton and Lita - Wharton‘s controlled prose and her intention that might be counter to our understanding (or misunderstanding). 11mo

Graywacke @TheBookHippie i agree, she does do flawed writing well. I‘m trying to remind myself of the time and perspective too, but she‘s making me question what i do and don‘t understand of the era. 11mo

TheBookHippie @Graywacke I agree, has me wishing my grandma was alive to ask her questions. 11mo

batsy This is so different and so Wharton at the same time. The way she deftly satirises the busy days of the wealthy who don't have to work for a living—Pauline has days filled in order to assure herself that her days are filled. I also have to read up more on "twilight sleep" births because I vaguely knew it was a thing, but didn't realise the extent of it being an early 20th-century trend. The Dexter and Lila situation is ringing alarm bells?! ? 11mo

Graywacke @batsy I‘m wondering about those ⏰s. And the births, which is new to me. However, I‘m quite intrigued with what Pauline fills her days with. Non-Christian spiritual stuff, very, you know, 1970‘s. Also, what she and Lita are doing have parallels. 11mo

Lcsmcat @batsy The Dexter situation made me wonder what happened to Wharton that she was exploring these pseudo-incest scenarios. 😱 11mo

Lcsmcat The prose is excellent, and the wit sharp. I highlighted several quotes, of course. But this one made me laugh out loud: “Yet what did Episcopal Bishops know of “holy ecstasy”? And could any number of Church services have reduced her hips?” 11mo

Graywacke @Lcsmcat that‘s interesting about Dexter. Wonder what Hermione Lee says. 11mo

Graywacke @Lcsmcat Pauline, right? That quote. I kinda understand Dexter‘s affection. She‘s entertaining. 11mo

batsy @Graywacke Yes, great point. Who knew there was a precursor to the 60s and 70s mysticism? It's fascinating that these ideas were circulating among the rich earlier on in the US. Also loved that Pauline described her regimen as "Taylorized effort against the natural human fate". The Taylor system being implemented in late 19th-century I think. Wharton's incorporating quite a bit in this book. 11mo

batsy @Lcsmcat Right. It also made me wonder exactly what was going in upper crust NY society at the time (perhaps a tale as old as time and maybe no less different now? Idk 🤢) 11mo

Lcsmcat @Graywacke Yes, that was Pauline. 11mo

Lcsmcat @batsy @Graywacke I think we tend to see religion /religious fervor as something that was stronger in “the old days” (whenever that was) whereas in reality it comes and goes, is displaced by various fads, then something bad happens (war, economic crisis) and we scuttle back. The founding fathers were not so Christian as today‘s far right would have one believe, for example. (Jefferson rewrote the Bible to include only the bits he liked.) 11mo

batsy @Lcsmcat So true. I'm not as well versed in American history so that is interesting indeed about Jefferson! 11mo

Graywacke @Lcsmcat I think education and religion have a poor track record everywhere always. Not completely contrary, but rarely hand-in-hand. Wharton seems to present a very casual relationship with religion in her writing. 11mo

jewright @batsy I was surprised by the twilight births too. My grandma had them in the 50‘s and 60‘s, but it sounds as if this was only specially available to the wealthy maybe because most people would have been having home births. 11mo

Leftcoastzen I forgot to start it! Not looking at comments. I‘ll be back! 🫤😁 10mo

Graywacke @Leftcoastzen you can catch up! 🙂 10mo

Leftcoastzen Whartons writing is just so good! Being over scheduled seems like an avoidance tactic somewhat for Pauline . I love the debates about what to do about Michelangelo! Pay his debts , which would lead to bad behavior again .That marrying money is a career choice or Dexter can just hire him, like you can just say, yep, now I‘m a lawyer! 10mo

Leftcoastzen Actually, there is a lot of history of Theosophy, Yoga, eastern religions in those years. It did take the place of more traditional religions for some people, & some , just a fad.But usually with the rich & comfortable , regular people worked too hard for a living. Like anything else, there were serious scholars of these traditions, and people just out to make a buck. 10mo

Leftcoastzen And Lita ! I get the impression she is not going to be tied down to the trappings of adulthood, a husband,a baby. Being a flapper can nearly be a modern “religion”too. 10mo

Graywacke @Leftcoastzen you caught up! 🙂 great comments. Pauline has evasion of introspection down to art of sorts. I didn‘t know anything about this 1920‘s fad. Very interesting! And Lita… oh, Lita…At least she knows what she wants 10mo

cindyash @Lcsmcat not sure anything happened to her to write those scenarios. Ido agree with batsy that this is ringing alarm bells. Really like Nona,she is so sure of herself. hope she'll be ok 10mo

Graywacke @cindyash is this Club Read‘s Cindy? Welcome to Litsy. To tag a person, is the @ key => @cindyash Also, I‘m worried about Nona. 10mo

cindyash @batsy I knew about the mystism in the late 1800s wwonder if its an offshoot. Shades of the 70s “new age movement. what was that group the was so popular, EST I think? yeah the more things change the more they stay the same (edited) 10mo

cindyash @Graywacke yes sir! a little confused but Im here! is there a way I can get back to the discussion at the beginning of book 1? 10mo

Graywacke @cindyash yay! nice to see you here. You need a tutorial. You‘re in the discussion for book 1 here. To find all posts, click on this hashtag: #whartonbuddyread 10mo

Lcsmcat @cindyash I‘m crossing my fingers for Nona also. She seems to have it a bit more together than her contemporaries. 10mo

44 likes33 comments

Graywacke

Twilight Sleep | Edith Wharton

#whartonbuddyread 🙂

Suet624 Jeepers, I really appreciate Wharton. 11mo

batsy Her satirical eye is unforgiving 😆 11mo

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Graywacke

Twilight Sleep | Edith Wharton

Getting going #whartonbuddyread

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Graywacke

Twilight Sleep | Edith Wharton

A little prep for our next #whartonbuddyread - Twilight Sleep. We discuss Book One on March 23.

These are all library books I checked out today

Lcsmcat

Graywacke Left stack, top down

After the fall: The Demeter-Persephone Myth in Wharton, Cather, and Glasgow (1989) by Josephine Donovan
Edith Wharton: matters of mind and spirit (1995) by Carol J. Singley
Edith Wharton‘s prisoners of consciousness: a study of theme and technique in the tales (1994) by Evelyn E. Fracasso
Felicitous space: the imaginative structures of Edith Wharton and Willa Cather (1986) by Judith Fryer
Edith Wharton (2007) by Hermione Lee 11mo

Graywacke Edith Wharton: An Extraordinary Life: An Illustrated Biography (1994) by Eleanor Dwight 11mo

Graywacke Right stack - left to right

The brave escape of Edith Wharton: a biography (2010) by Connie Nordheim Woolridge
Edith Wharton: sex, satire and the older woman (2011) by Avril Horner and Janet Beer
Edith Wharton in context (2012) edited by Laura Rattrey
The gilded age: Edith Wharton and her contemporaries (1995) by Eleanor Dwight
Edith Wharton: Revised Edition (Twayne‘s United States authors series) (c1976, 1991) by Margaret B. McDowell 11mo

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Graywacke not in sisterhood: Edith Wharton, Willa Cather, Zona Gale, and the politics of female authorship (2001) by Deborah Lindsay Williams 11mo

TheBookHippie Wowie!!! 11mo

Lcsmcat Impressive stack! 11mo

dabbe Yowza! 🤩🤩🤩 11mo

batsy Whoa 🙌🏾 11mo

49 likes8 comments

LitsyEvents

Twilight Sleep | Edith Wharton

Here is the next book in the #whartonbuddyread hosted by @graywack and @lcsmcat

Lcsmcat Thanks for reposting. 11mo

35 likes1 comment

Graywacke

Twilight Sleep | Edith Wharton

Wharton takes on the Jazz Age. It was apparently a best seller in 1927. This will be our next #whartonbuddyread

Lcsmcat

Graywacke @AllDebooks @amysisson @Ann_Reads @arubabookwoman @batsy @BookishTrish @CarolynM @catebutler @Catherine_Willoughby @Cathythoughts @Crazeedi @Currey @dabbe @Daisey 11mo

Graywacke @emilyhaldi @IMASLOWREADER @IndoorDame @jewright @KathyWheeler @kspenmoll @Leftcoastzen @LitStephanie @llwheeler @Louise @rubyslippersreads @SamAnne @sarahbellum @Sparklemn @Suet624 @Tamra @TheBookHippie @willaful 11mo

Graywacke @LitsyEvents 11mo

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Lcsmcat Look forward to seeing what she means by the title, as my mind immediately jumped to the drug they used to give women during labor. 😂 11mo

Graywacke @Lcsmcat I think you‘re roughly on theme (minus the childbirth?) 11mo

AllDebooks This sounds really good 11mo

Suet624 Hmmm… I haven‘t seen this on any of my library searches. May have to purchase this one. (edited) 11mo

IMASLOWREADER i have never heard of this book…but sound interesting 11mo

jewright The Great Gatsby is one of my favorite books. I wonder how this one will compare. 11mo

batsy Looking forward! I've had a copy for *decades*... 😳 11mo

Graywacke @AllDebooks I‘m excited for it. 11mo

Graywacke @Suet624 it‘s free electronically, or $1 on Kindle or Nook. On paper it‘s trickier to find. 11mo

Graywacke @IMASLOWREADER yes, new to me too. 11mo

Graywacke @jewright hmm. I saw somewhere we need to bring Eudora Welty‘s take as well. I read The Great Gatsby in high school. It‘s all a blur and a green light and some bad driving now. 11mo

Graywacke @batsy really? I guess it‘s time to read it. But, that‘s cool you have had it for so long. (It will be out 19th !! Wharton) 11mo

Suet624 Where would I find it electronically? 11mo

Graywacke @Suet624 for free? project Gutenberg? I only checked nook and amazon, so not sure 😁 11mo

Graywacke @Suet624 here: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/70844 11mo

Suet624 I always forget about Gutenberg. Thank you! 11mo

Graywacke @AllDebooks @amysisson @Ann_Reads @arubabookwoman @batsy @BookishTrish @CarolynM @catebutler @Catherine_Willoughby @Cathythoughts @Crazeedi @Currey @dabbe @Daisey 11mo

Graywacke @emilyhaldi @IMASLOWREADER @IndoorDame @jewright @KathyWheeler @kspenmoll @Leftcoastzen @LitStephanie 11mo

Graywacke @llwheeler @Louise @rubyslippersreads @SamAnne @sarahbellum @Sparklemn @Suet624 @Tamra @TheBookHippie @willaful @Lcsmcat 11mo

Graywacke Just a reminder that we discuss book one in 8 days. 11mo

CarolynM Thanks, Dan. Looking forward to it. I‘m intrigued by the title too @Lcsmcat 11mo

Cathythoughts Thanks for still including me. I havnt been a great participant. But Im going to try and read this one. Sounds good. 11mo

Graywacke @CarolynM 💜 me too. I read a little Friday, but hope to get going today 11mo

Graywacke @Cathythoughts fantastic! Glad you‘re joining this one. 11mo

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Sophronisba

Twilight Sleep | Edith Wharton

I was finishing Twilight Sleep today when I heard that Kellyanne and George Conway were divorcing and I could not help but think about what Edith Wharton might have done with that marriage. What a novel that would have been!

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Sophronisba

Twilight Sleep | Edith Wharton

I just got to a part in Twilight Sleep (written in 1927) in which a doctor diagnoses a patient with “overwork“ and prescribes “get[ting] away for three or four weeks“ and given the state of work and rest in 2023 I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

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Sophronisba

Twilight Sleep | Edith Wharton

“Of course there ought to be no Pain . . . nothing but Beauty. . . It ought to be one of the loveliest, most poetic things in the world to have a baby,“ Mrs. Manford declared, in that bright efficient voice which made loveliness and poetry sound like the attributes of an advanced industrialism, and babies something to be turned out in series like Fords.

#SundaySentence

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