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The Glimpses of the Moon

Edith Wharton

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    Edith Wharton always carries me away to a world I cannot even fathom. She was born in New York City, 1862, as Edith Newbold Jones, as in the Joneses that people wanted to keep up with. Really. One would have thought that being born into the filthy rich would have made her as obnoxious as the characters that fill her novels, but it is not so. In fact, she not only did not lead a life of leisure, but she worked very hard. After years of rejections, her first novel was finally published when she was forty. After that, she was an extremely prolific and successful writer, along with her many other talents, such as home decorating and designing.
    After crossing the Atlantic numerous times, she finally permanently moved to France after her divorce. I cannot find the source, but I believe it was in a Note for a Dover Book of hers, that her reason for moving there was to escape the stifling social mores of the disgustingly rich, and to seek freedom of expression, both literary and sexual. During WWI, she passionately supported France, and worked to establish numerous organizations to help the victims of war, including a workroom for unemployed women—a sewing business that began with 30 women and soon doubled. She also helped set up a hostel for Belgian refugees and other philanthropic endeavors. I don't often say this about authors, but I believe I would have liked her as a person.
    Her novels reflect the ridiculousness of high society, and usually have depressing or fatalistic endings. For a change, this one does not. In fact, though the two main characters each went through a rough spell, way out of their usual realm, in this case, they both learned hard lessons and it made them better people. I love stories where persistence and determination pay off, and I really liked this novel. It was written in 1922, following The Age of Innocence in 1920, which won her a Pulitzer Prize that year. You may read all my Edith Wharton reviews on her Index Page.
    It begins as Susy and Nick decide, on a whim to do the marriage thing as an experiment, and with the "contract" that when either had the opportunity come their way for something better, they would split. Little did they realize their love was real. We first meet them as Nick and Susy Lansing, celebrating their honeymoon at Como in their friend Charlie Strefford's villa. They are both "dependent," that is, neither have money or a job, but are dependent on their rich friends to support them because there are still part of "high society." But even more important is that they serve some purpose to their host. Either they are amusing or popular or useful. Susy and Nick find out the hard way that being useful is not always acceptable.
    Anyways, Nick, who is a writer, has not been financially successful. He leaves it to Susy to "manage" things, meaning money, and she figures they can last a year in idle honeymooning with all the money they have received from their rich friends as wedding gifts, plus, it is the "thing" to lend out one of your spare houses to newlyweds. Though Nick and Susy would like to remain at "Streffy's" villa, it had been requested by someone else who has offered him a tremendous amount of money which he cannot refuse, since he also has little. This particular place in the story is important, but we don't realize it until near the end. Anyways, as they pack, Nick has discovered that Susy has "stolen" Streffy's cigars for him. He makes her unpack and put them back. We begin to see that even though Nick, like Susy, freeloads, as we would call it today, he also has a sense of morals and self-dignity, and is not as material-minded as she is. If he had to live poor and do without, he could and he has. There lies the beginning of the end of their marital bliss.
    So the couple go to Venice where they will now stay at the Vanderlyn's—Nelson and Ellie's palace. There is still some anger lingering over the cigar thing, and Susy is worried and a bit ashamed. Nick decides he is inspired to write a novel rather than the stuffy non-fiction he had been writing. The setting in Venice provides him with the perfect situation, where he can close himself off, undisturbed, and write. Susy is excited for him, and absolutely respects his need for solitude. That is why she does not tell him about the letter from Ellie. She was supposed to be at the palace when they arrived, but instead had told her young daughter, Clarissa she was going off for a "cure." She did not want her to tell her father so he wouldn't worry. But the truth is, she is off with her newest lover, and has left a series of letters, addressed and numbered, for Susy to mail to her husband, Nelson, from Venice. Yeah, she is using Susy to enable her to cheat. Susy is appalled, but since Nick seems so settled and productive, plus the fact that poor Clarissa has no one but the servants to keep her company, Susy hides what she is doing for her "friend." Lots of people show up at the Vanderlyn's while the Lansings are there, including Streffy, who is a long-time close friend of Susy. They all are warned they must leave Nick alone while he writes. But something unexpected happens. Ellie comes home, only to be off again, and, in a flutter that she does not have the latest gowns, she learns that Nelson will be returning home, and requests he pick them up and bring them. Now Susy is worried that something will slip out about the affair. Nelson, however, is totally naïve as to his wife's behavior, even though the rest of the world knows about all her lovers. But they get through the episode and are off again, and Susy thinks she has pulled it off without Nick finding out what she has done. She hasn't, because Ellie, unaware that Nick actually has well-developed morals, or at least compared to the rest of their "friends," has no idea that Susy did not tell him of their little agreement. She comes to see Nick alone just before she leaves, and gives him an expensive scarf pin as a "thank you." He has no clue what he is being thanked for.
    The thing that he finds most appalling is that Susy has lied to him. He suddenly feels a gaping chasm between the way they communicate and perceive life. He thinks. But his perception about Susy is not quite correct, and the two of them don't know how to talk it out. He writes her a note and leaves.
    The rest of the story is about growth, for both of them. They do some serious soul-searching, and make changes in their lives. Meanwhile, though Nick never writes her another letter as he has promised, the two keep in contact by what the newspapers write about them. Nick has gone off with the Hickses, who are very wealthy, but do not behave in the same atrocious manner as the rest of their friends. They are great supporters of the arts, especially their daughter, Coral, who is in love with Nick. He ends up filling in for one of their staff members who has left because he was in love with Coral. So at least he has a job that pays very well, But he soon finds that his duties go beyond his expectations. Meanwhile, Coral has met a prince who wants to marry her. She turns him down. Nick is next in line.
    As for Susy, it seems that Streffy is now no longer wanting. His uncle, Lord Altringham and his son, his heir, have both died in an accident, making Charles Strefford the new Lord Altringham, and very wealthy. He wants to marry Susy, and she is ready to accept, since she has not heard from Nick, and believes he will marry Coral. She files for divorce. But then she finds out something that stops her in her tracks.
    Susy, now totally disgusted with her rich friends, reunites with Nat and Grace Fulmer. Nat, an artist, has been "discovered" by Violet Melrose, and is on his way toward success, Sort of. Grace, his wife, is a fine musician, and she is also more successful now. They have five children, and have lived in need, but always in love. Violet thinks she is going to steal Nat away but she is wrong. Meanwhile, Susy has gone to live with them, where she has a job, low paying because they are still not very well-off. Her job is to take care of the children, and they become her teachers instead. They are all very wise and clever, and when Grace and Nat go off for a while, Susy stays to take care of them. It is the best thing that could happen to her at that point in time. She is now responsible for other people and is supporting herself. Big changes have come about for both her and Nick.
    I won't tell you the rest, but I will say it is a good and satisfying ending. This one, as I mentioned above, is a bit different from Wharton's usual romances. Though it reveals the life of the rich as she knew it first hand, it doesn't contain the futility and bitterness as some of her other novels. She most certainly felt bitterness, but also rose above it and lived a good part of her life in her own purposeful and expressive choice. I thoroughly enjoyed this story, and recommend reading all the great books by this extraordinary woman.

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