Edith Wharton

Edith Wharton was born in 1862 into the privileged New York she later described with such wit and precision in masterpieces such as The House of Mirth (1905). Wharton was also highly regarded as a landscape and interior designer, a “tastemaker” well acquainted with society. For her empathy toward World War I refugees, and her dedication to the war effort, she was named Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. In 1921 The Age of Innocence earned her the Pulitzer Prize for Literature, never before awarded to a woman. She died in 1937 in Val d’Oise on what is now called rue Edith Wharton.