The Reef | Social Concerns
The Reef has been called Edith Wharton's most autobiographical novel, not in the sense that the events in the novel parallel events in Wharton's own life, but that the upbringing of the leading character is much the same as Wharton's own upbringing. Anna Leath comes from an old, well-established New York family. She has never known any economic or physical need, but nonetheless her life has been characterized by an emotional and sexual deprivation that leave her in her late thirties like a young woman still waiting for her great awakening to the passionate side of life. Raised to...
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