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Edith Wharton's Lost Novel Surfaces from WWI
5 Jun
Summary
- An unfinished Edith Wharton story, 'The Men Who Saved the World', is now published.
- The story was written during World War I and set near French battlefields.
- It explores the disconnect between wartime horrors and civilian life.
An unfinished story by acclaimed author Edith Wharton, titled "The Men Who Saved the World," has been released, providing new insight into her literary output. This work, believed to have been penned in 1918, captures the author's experiences and reflections during World War I. Unlike her earlier novels focusing on New York's elite, this narrative transports readers to a French chateau adjacent to a battlefield.
The story dramatizes the disconnect between those experiencing the war firsthand and those insulated from its direct impact. It is narrated by Milly Arden, an American nurse. Arden is a guest at the home of Fred and Madge Upshall, who are hosting a dinner party. The atmosphere is juxtaposed with the nearby sounds of distant artillery, highlighting the theme of willful ignorance to wartime atrocities.
Wharton, who had actively assisted war refugees and reported from the front lines, channeled her observations into this fiction. The narrative includes interactions between Arden and Capt. Sherman Wake, a war hero, who speaks of the profound "catastrophic horror and waste" he has witnessed, contrasting with the Upshalls' social engagements.
