Old New York

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The four novellas collected here, by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of <i>The Age of Innocence,</i> brilliantly capture New York of the 1840s, '50s, '60s, and '70s. Originally published in 1924, this outstanding quartet includes <i>False Dawn,</i> about a rocky father/son relationship; <i>The Old Maid,</i> the best known of the four, in which a young woman's hidden illegitimate child is adopted by her best friend, with devastating results; <i>The Spark,</i> involving a young man and his moral rehabilitation -- "sparked" by a chance encounter with Walt Whitman; and <i>New Year's Day,</i> an O. Henryesque tale of a married woman suspected of adultery. Each reveals the codes and customs that ruled society of the time, drawn with the perspicacious eye and style that is uniquely Edith Wharton's. <p> Pocket Books' enriched Classics present the great works of world literature enhanced for the contemporary reader. This valume reprints the orginal <i>New York Times Book Review</i> feature on <i>Old New York,</i> a piece that helps fix the stories in the contemporary critical landscape. Also included are critical perspectives, suggestions for further reading, and a visual essay composed of authentic period illustrations and photographs.</p>