Let’s talk about a book that feels like a hot, still afternoon—heavy with expectation and buzzing with quiet desperation. Edith Wharton’s Summer is often called the companion to her wintery Ethan Frome, but it burns with a completely different kind of fire.

The Story

We meet Charity Royall, a young woman living in the stifling New England village of North Dormer. She feels trapped, working in the town’s dusty library and resenting her guardian, the well-meaning but older Lawyer Royall. Charity dreams of something bigger, something else. Enter Lucius Harney, a handsome and educated architect from the city. He represents everything she lacks: sophistication, freedom, possibility. Their summer romance becomes her entire world, a shimmering mirage of escape. But as the season fades, reality sets in. Harney’s intentions aren’t clear, and Charity’s own past—tied to the mysterious, lowly “Mountain” people she was born from—comes crashing back. The story follows her painful journey from naive hope to a stark, grown-up understanding of her own power and her profound limitations.

Why You Should Read It

This book surprised me. Wharton is famous for writing about high society’s gilded cages, but here she gives us a heroine in a much plainer, yet just as confining, trap. Charity is frustrating, impulsive, and deeply relatable in her hunger for more. Wharton doesn’t judge her; she just shows us the brutal math of her life. The writing is gorgeous but never flowery—it cuts right to the bone. What I love most is how it handles a young woman’s sexual awakening without melodrama. It’s treated as a powerful, natural force that complicates her search for freedom, making her choices heartbreakingly real. It’s a masterclass in showing how our dreams and our desires can lead us to make compromises that reshape our entire future.

Final Verdict

Summer is perfect for anyone who loves character-driven stories that pack a punch. If you’re a fan of authors like Willa Cather or Thomas Hardy, who write beautifully about hard lives and moral gray areas, you’ll find a friend here. It’s also a great pick for readers who think classics can’t be relevant or daring—this one absolutely is. Don’t expect a happy escape; expect a brilliant, bracing, and unforgettable portrait of a woman learning just how high the cost of living can be.