Product Description

Kate Orme is a young woman whose illusions of marital bliss are shattered when she comes face to face with the dark secret harbored by her fiance, the wealthy and deceptively ebullient Denis. Kate decides to go ahead and marry Denis, however, as a selfless gesture to protect any child he may conceive from inheriting their father's moral weakness. The couple does have a child, Dick, and in a marriage with a man that Kate has admittedly ceased to love, she transfers her original affections for Denis to their son.Denis dies suddenly and Kate is left to raise their young son. Knowing that Dick could have inherited the faults of his father, Kate anticipates a time when Dick's morality will be severely tested. That time comes years later when Dick, an eligible bachelor and aspiring professional, is faced with a dilemma that will affect the course of his life. With the precision, beauty, and sharp awareness of the cracks in upper-class New York society that made her one of the great writers of the twentieth century, Edith Wharton offers a subtle critique of the nature versus nurture debate that raged in the early 1900s. "Sanctuary" is a spare and moving investigation of the forces that impel human beings toward sin, self-doubt, and redemption.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2104470 in Books
• Published on: 2002-06-27
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .62" h x 5.50" w x 8.21" l, .67 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 216 pages

From Library Journal
Originally published by Scribners in 1903, this is the story of Kate Orme, who marries a man of weak moral character. When they have a child, she fears that the sins of the father will be the sins of their son. Kate dedicates herself to instilling morality in the boy as he grows, especially after her husband dies. This is a typical Wharton examination of upper-crust society strewn with flaws.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review
"It is good, ethically and artistically, to read and read again a book with such a lift."-New York Times "A striking little book, striking in its simplicity and penetration, its passion and restraint."-Times Literary Supplement

About the Author
Edith Wharton (1862-1937) is the author of many critically acclaimed novels, including The Age of Innocence, Ethan Frome, and The House of Mirth.