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The Age of Desire A Novel Jennie Fields Books

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The Age of Desire A Novel Jennie Fields Books

For fans of Edith Wharton, author Jennie Fields has given us an inside glimpse of part of her life that has been neglected by the lit world. And yet ... the picture that emerges of this middle aged woman & celebrated author at the peak of her career whose love life was stunted somewhere before puberty, is stunning, revealing, fascinating and altogether alluring.
Fields does a superb job of bringing the reader into that world. From Wharton's famed home -- The Mount in Massachusetts -- to New York, and Paris, we follow her as she navigates the intricacies of being seduced and then successfully wooed by what can only be described as a bounder who was both an adept lover and a mercurial user.
Fields uses writing technique that spans both memoir and fiction and gives us a view of her subject that makes us both root for and pity her subject. Women of that era were told not to expect much for themselves. And they didn't. But when the door of desire opened, Wharton walked through it in a surprising and altogether engrossing way. Is it because she is such a celebrated and accomplished persona, or is it because we cheer any woman of any age finding passion before it's too late?
Brava both Jennie Fields and Edith Wharton.


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The Age of Desire A Novel Jennie Fields Books Reviews

For lovers of Edith Wharton during the unforgettable days of Americans in Paris when Paris was home to a cornucopia of intellectuals of every stripe. This book was a pleasure to read full of excerpts from Wharton’s letters though I’m not sure if they are taken from the original collections.
I have been reading period novels for the past six years. Not ONE book ,THIS IS TRUE NOVEL, can begin to touch the wonder of the descriptive writing which takes place the the world the author sweeps us in to. I believe most women can in some part connect with both Edith and Anna.

Jennie Fields takes us back in time and fills us with every sight, smell, sensation and heart-straining emotion, I felt elated and exhausted each time I sat this elaborate tale down.

BRAVO Jennie, my best read in 10 years! You have a die hard fan scrambling to find another world created by you.
The Age of Desire is a historical fiction novel about Edith Wharton. Edith was one of the first truly successful women authors and her books dealt with the hypocrisies of the upper class system, mostly relating to women. She is most famous because she was the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in literature for The Age of Innocence. However, The Age of Desire takes place right at the beginning of Edith's fame and it centers more around her personal life than her accomplishments.

While Edith wrote about the upper class in two of her most popular novels, she was a product of that class. She was a deeply private person. In 1934 she wrote an autobiography called A Backward Glance. However, this autobiography left out several of the most important and formative experiences of Edith's life. It did not detail her relationship and troubles with her mother or with her husband, who was diagnosed to be mentally ill. It also didn't talk about her affair with Morton Fullerton. These things only came to light much later, when her papers were opened in 1968 and when her letters to Fullerton were released in the 1980s. The Age of Desire develops these relationships and shows the impact that they had on Edith.

This story is not always (or even very often) uplifting. Edith's marriage is very unhappy. Her husband loves her but he isn't very intelligent and Edith is an extremely smart woman. He just doesn't understand her and, as his mental illness becomes more apparent, they can't even connect through the hobbies they used to share. Edith finds solace in the friendship of her intellectual friends, including a new acquaintance, Morton Fullerton. She begins an affair with him but, from the beginning, the reader can tell that she will end up hurt. She doesn't want Morton to run away with her but she does want his undivided attention and his companionship of the mind. Eventually, he only wants her body while she wants romance and friendship more. Luckily, through it all, she has the companionship and loyalty of Anna Bahlmann. Anna was Edith's governess and now acts as her secretary. She also acts as the other point of view for this novel. She is rational and calm and sees the events that Edith is mixed up in clearly. But always her loyalty remains with Edith. Some of my favorite scenes were when Anna would type the completed pages of Edith's most recent novel and offer gentle suggestions. Anna was Edith's sounding board and her first reader and her closest friend.

This book is a very interesting look at the personal relationships of a very famous, yet very private, woman. The events it shows are all very probable and it includes some of the actual letters between Edith and her correspondents. It is well worth the time to read.
In reading Ethan Wharton's books, it seems there's a sadness lingering in them. They make you wonder about the author's life--were her books a reflection of her own experiences or what she observed of the times? Edith Wharton was from a wealthy family, the Jones's, who are referenced in the expression "keeping up with the Jones". Edith had a comfortable fortune, a successful career when most women didn't have one, traveled easily to Paris every year, enjoyed the friendship of Henry James, and was famous because of her novels. So, why wasn't she happy?

This novel shows what was missing in Wharton's life. Using Wharton's diaries and letters, the author is able to capture the voice and character of Edith. She shows Edith's strength and vulnerability. In lovely prose she creates an age of desire in Edith's life when her marriage was failing and an unsuitable, unreliable but somewhat lovable man comes into her life. If you've experienced that phenomena, you know how frustrating it is. A perfect lover for the time, but impractical for the long haul. So, do you throw him over for now just because you sense he's wrong for the future, because all you have got is now? The author portrays the frustration Edith felt when she was finally mature enough to appreciate love, and be loved as a woman, but comes to realize it's a transient love.

This emotional side of Wharton is brought to life believably in this novel. It's what you sensed behind her books but where she never reveals herself totally. Even in her autobiography, A Backward Glance, Wharton leaves key parts of her life out.

This novel convincingly brings to life the love affair that was left out, and perhaps explains the melancholy in some of Wharton's books. (4.5 stars)
For fans of Edith Wharton, author Jennie Fields has given us an inside glimpse of part of her life that has been neglected by the lit world. And yet ... the picture that emerges of this middle aged woman & celebrated author at the peak of her career whose love life was stunted somewhere before puberty, is stunning, revealing, fascinating and altogether alluring.
Fields does a superb job of bringing the reader into that world. From Wharton's famed home -- The Mount in Massachusetts -- to New York, and Paris, we follow her as she navigates the intricacies of being seduced and then successfully wooed by what can only be described as a bounder who was both an adept lover and a mercurial user.
Fields uses writing technique that spans both memoir and fiction and gives us a view of her subject that makes us both root for and pity her subject. Women of that era were told not to expect much for themselves. And they didn't. But when the door of desire opened, Wharton walked through it in a surprising and altogether engrossing way. Is it because she is such a celebrated and accomplished persona, or is it because we cheer any woman of any age finding passion before it's too late?
Brava both Jennie Fields and Edith Wharton.