Join us online for lively discussions of Edith Wharton’s acclaimed works. This year we have selected "Bunner Sisters," Twilight Sleep, and The Buccaneers.

Books can be found for free online viewing at Project Gutenberg, Project Gutenberg Australia, or purchased online at our affiliate Bookshop.org site.

Book Club Schedule:

January 26, 4 pm ET – "Bunner Sisters" (1916)

Wharton wrote the story in 1892 and published it 24 years later in the short story collection Xingu and Other Stories (Scribner's). The plot turns on the sisters' intense relations and their transitory chance for happiness. It also reflects Edith Wharton's wish to escape from the social world of New York in which she lived.

February 23, 4 pm ET – Twilight Sleep (1927)

Published in June (D. Appleton), the work was serialized in the Pictorial Review from February through May. The title, which refers to the popular anesthesia for childbirth, serves as a metaphor for the state of self-delusion in which most American society women lived. The novel concerns the conflict between generations and focuses on the victimization of young people by their elders.

March 30, 4 pm ET– The Buccaneers (1938)

This was Wharton's final novel, started in 1934. After she died in 1937, when it was about three-fourths complete, it was published by Gaillard Lapsley (Appleton and Company). The novel concerns the capture of European titles through aristocratic matches. The form is a historical romance and takes place in Saratoga Springs, New York City, and England between 1873 and 1877.

The story descriptions are excerpted from Edith Wharton A to Z, Sarah Bird Wright (1998).

The Mount is a Massachusetts Cultural Council UP designated organization welcoming participants of all disabilities. Please contact The Mount at 413-551-5100 or by email, info@edithwharton.org, to discuss accommodations needed to participate fully in this event.