The Glimpses of the Moon

Written by Edith Wharton

Narrated by Anna Fields

Nick Lansing and Susy Branch, a newly married couple with the right connections but little money, devise a shrewd plan to sponge off their wealthy friends, honeymooning in their mansions and villas. How their plan unfolds is a charming comedy of Eros.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Blackstone Audio
• Release date: Jan 1, 2006
• ISBN: 9780786112647

Edith Wharton

Edith Wharton was born in 1862 to a prominent and wealthy New York family. In 1885 she married Boston socialite 'Teddy' Wharton but the marriage was unhappy and they divorced in 1913. The couple travelled frequently to Europe and settled in France, where Wharton stayed until her death in 1937. Her first major novel was The House of Mirth (1905); many short stories, travel books, memoirs and novels followed, including Ethan Frome (1911) and The Reef (1912). She was the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Literature with The Age of Innocence (1920) and she was thrice nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. She was also decorated for her humanitarian work during the First World War.

Reviews for The Glimpses of the Moon

[kasthu_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Glimpses of the Moon tells the story of Nick and Suzy Lansing, a young couple who married for neither love nor money—or, rather, they married for money but other people’s. Their bet is to spend a year honeymooning in their rich friends’ houses in France, Venice, and elsewhere; and if one or the other should wish to marry someone else who can advance themselves socially, they will be free to do so. What really happens surprises not the reader but Suzy and Nick.Nick and Suzy are characters who undergo a lot of self-growth. They start out as people who are only concerned with living in the moment; and enjoying life, or their perception of it, as much as they possibly can. They both come to realize that there’s much more to life than what appears on the surface. Their growth is pretty predictable, but it’s interesting to see how they get where they eventually do.Edith Wharton’s world of upper-crust New York jetsetting (or is that the wrong term considering this is the 1920s) society is an odd one. People in this set of people are pretty laissez-faire about marriage. Divorce is as commonplace as getting one’s teeth cleaned, and it’s de rigueur, apparently, for someone to announce an engagement before the divorce is finalized. Wharton’s novel is a critique not just on these particular characters but also the milieu in which they live. So she tends to reuse the same types of characters over and over; for example, the Hickses are watered-down versions of the Spraggs in The Customs of the Country (both families even come from Apex City), although Coral Hicks isn't quite as socially hungry as Undine is. Even Nick and Suzy are reiterations. The characters, even the main characters, aren't as important as what happens to them to make them change.One of my favorite things about Wharton’s novels is how she depicts and yet subtly skewers the society of which she writes. There’s a quote from someone, I can’t remember who, who said that comedy is only funny when it’s telling the truth. For that reason, Edith Wharton’s novels are, in a way, comic.

[amerynth · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Edith Wharton's "The Glimpses of the Moon" is delightful. Written to reflect the easy-going ways of the 1920's, the novel tells the story of Susy and Nick Lansing, who have recently married and are celebrating an extended honeymoon. The Lansings, who have no money themselves, but know all the right people in society, have a marriage of convenience. They plan to spend a year or so together, sponging off friends and prepared to separate from each other if a better (read: richer) offer comes along. Of course, the plan doesn't quite work out the way they thought it would.Yes, the plot is sort of contrived and certainly predictable, but the book's charms make it easy to overlook that. The characters and their foibles are entertaining in this quick and easy read. The book doesn't quite measure of up to Wharton's "The Age of Innocence" or "Ethan Frome" but it is still a fun little read in its own regard.

[mynovelthoughts · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I just finished reading Glimpses of the Moon and thought that it was a delightful novel. It was humorous, thought-provoking and poignant.The novel revolves around Nick Lansing and Susy Branch, two popular socialites who hang with the rich set but are unable to afford the lavish lifestyle of their friends. So, they devise a plan; they'll get married (they suppose they'll be together for a year) and enjoy an extended honeymoon by staying with friends. Once one (or both) of them find a more suitable (meaning rich) partner they will separate amicably.Of course things don't go as planned.Nick discovers that Susy has compromised her morals to benefit from their friends' wealth and both grow disenchanted with their lifestyle and with one another. Pride and fear get in the way of Susy and Nick finding true happiness and admitting how they have grown to feel about one other.I really enjoyed The Glimpses of the Moon. The only complaint I have is that the plot was filled with coincidences that resulted in certain life-altering decisions being made (eg. someone being in the right place at exactly the right time). But the writing, and exploration of materialism and it's dark side more than make up for perceived shortcomings.

[whitreidtan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When the novel opens, Nick and Susy are newlyweds enjoying a glimpse of the moon from the country home that they've borrowed from a friend for their honeymoon. Nick and Susy aren't typical newlyweds though. They have a deal and figure they'll be married to each other for about a year. At the end of that time (roughly determined as the amount of time in which they, the vastly entertaining but poor couple, can live off of their incredibly wealthy friends), they assume they will divorce and each remarry someone more suitable, by which they mean rich.Although they've been living off the largess of their friends for so long, they have differing opinions about what is morally and ethically acceptable and so despite their growing care for each other, they come into conflict over the differences. Pulled apart by misunderstanding, each of them goes off with different friends and tries to slip back into the life led before their marriage. But the time together has changed them both, deepened them as people and made it possible for them to think of a life not led in the superficial, glancing world of the inordinately wealthy. It has allowed them to truly fall in love.While the plot might sound like many a romance novel, Wharton spends much time on the shallow foibles of the moneyed set shifting around Europe in search of entertainment. Nick and Susy are a lens through which to see some of these excesses. The writing is fantastic, with accurate descriptions, backhanded wit, and astute insights. The tone here is casual and light although Wharton does get in the expected rapier thrusts about the ennui and the callousness so characteristic of the social class she's describing. And in the end, the story is not so much about Nick and Susy's sponging off of others or about the friends who collect and discard relationships like last year's hats, but it's about a pair who, despite the company they keep, grow and learn and understand the importance of love. I've been a fan of Wharton's for a long time and this novel just re-confirmed my feeling.

[bookheaven_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Interesting commentary on the trappings of the rich.