Old New York: Four Novellas: False Dawn; The Old Maid; The Spark; New Year's Day

Written by Edith Wharton

Narrated by Nathan Osgood and Katherine Fenton

Spanning four decades in the mid-nineteenth century, the interconnected novellas of Old New York lay out the complex and inscrutable codes, customs, and taboos of New York society in classic Wharton style.

False Dawn (1840s): Mr. Halston Raycie sends his son Lewis to Europe to buy art, as Mr. Raycie aims to ascend to the upper crust of society by means of a well-respected art collection. But when Lewis returns from Europe with daring pieces by artists unknown to the New York socialites and tastemakers, his appalled father disinherits him, only to discover, too late, the wisdom of his son's intuition.

The Old Maid (1850s): The best known of the four novellas, follows the life of Tina, a young woman caught between the mother who adopted her--the beautiful, upstanding Delia--and her true mother, her plain, unmarried aunt Charlotte, who gave Tina up to provide her with a socially acceptable life. The three women live quietly together until Tina's wedding day, when Delia's and Charlotte's hidden jealousies rush to the surface.

The Spark (1860s): Mr. Hayley Delane recounts how his life has turned out since he was wounded in the Civil War, where, during his rehabilitation, he chances to meet a certain American poet whose memory stays with him all his life.

New Year's Day (1870s): Mrs. Lizzie Hazeldean's suspected affair with the unmarried Henry Prest is the center of scandal and gossip in the city, but the true nature of the relationship is not what it may seem.

• Language: English
• Publisher: SNR Audio
• Release date: Jan 1, 2024
• ISBN: 9781805360087

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.