The Reef

This is Wharton’s fifth novel. It is considered, together with the previous „Ethan Frome „and the subsequent „The Custom of the Country”, as partly autobiographical. Young diplomat George Darrow is on his way to meet Anna Leath, an old girlfriend who is now a widow with a young daughter and a grown stepson. When Anna abruptly postpones their rendezvous without explanation, Darrow concludes that she is no longer interested in him. He has a brief liaison with the delicate, generous Sophy Vine...