Edith Wharton

* Skim the information about Edith Wharton. Write down five interesting facts about her life:

- In 1902 she built The Mount, her estate in Lenox, Massachusetts, which survives today as an example ofher design principles

- Edith Wharton wrote several of her novels, including The House of Mirth (1905), the first of many chronicles of the nature of old New York, and entertained the cream of American literary society, including her close friend, the novelist Henry James

- Many of Wharton's novels are characterized by a subtle use of dramatic irony.

- Wharton was a committed supporter of French imperialism, describing herself as a "rabid imperialist". After World War I, she travelled to Morocco as the guest of the Resident General, General Hubert Lyautey, and wrote a book In Morocco, about her experiences. Wharton's writing on her Moroccan travels is full of praise for the French administration and for Lyautey and his wife in particular.

- Wharton continued writing until her death, lying in bed and dropping each finished page to the floor to be collected when she finished. Wharton's last novel, The Buccaneers, was unfinished at the time of her death.