Charlotte's sacrifice has allowed the child, Tina, an advantageous position in New York City's fashionable society as Delia's adopted daughter. Now Tina's a graceful young woman and ready to marry -- and the anguish that Charlotte has long suppressed is ready to explode.

In addition to her mastery of the novella, Edith Wharton was a keen observer of her own privileged class. Her skill at capturing telling details of nineteenth-century society elevates this soap-opera scenario of a mother's self-denial into a memorable and compelling drama. First published in serial form in The Red Book Magazine in 1922, the story has since become a classic of American literature and has served as the basis for a Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway play as well as a classic Hollywood film. This edition features an Introduction by Roxana Robinson, author of Cost.