The Marne (Barnes & Noble Digital Library)

By Edith Wharton

Francophile Wharton, an American buried in Versailles, was one of the few foreign front-line correspondents in France during World War I. A passionate advocate for the French national cause, this 1918 novella of a young American soldier in the Foreign Legion takes the United States to task for its slow aid to its ally.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Barnes & Noble
• Release date: Mar 22, 2011
• ISBN: 9781411442436

Edith Wharton

Edith Wharton (1862–1937) was an American novelist—the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for her novel The Age of Innocence in 1921—as well as a short story writer, playwright, designer, reporter, and poet. Her other works include Ethan Frome, The House of Mirth, and Roman Fever and Other Stories. Born into one of New York’s elite families, she drew upon her knowledge of upper-class aristocracy to realistically portray the lives and morals of the Gilded Age.

Reviews for The Marne (Barnes & Noble Digital Library)

[jeffome · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A quick little read by one of my very favorite authors.....the story of a wealthy young American man fortunate enough to summer in France as a child who develops a love for the country, one strong enough to make him yearn to help in the war effort of WWI to save France from the German onslaught, although his age prohibits him from being a soldier. As quite often is the case with Wharton, there is much subtle criticism of the vapid hypocrisy of American wealthy socialites as they also express their somewhat shallow desires to be helpful, but for all the wrong reasons. This certainly shares Wharton's growing disdain that led her to spend her final years as an expatriate living in France. I also learned a little bit about America's initial involvement in WWI. I love Wharton, and i am slowly running out of her works that i have not read yet....i will be slowly spreading those remaining out over time!