Coming Home 1916

"Coming Home" by Edith Wharton is a novel written during the early 20th century. Set against the backdrop of World War I, the book explores themes of love, family, and the impact of war on personal lives. The narrative follows Jean de Réchamp, a French cavalry lieutenant, who suffers a serious injury at the front and grapples with the fear and uncertainty surrounding his family back home during the chaos of the war. The story begins with Jean’s longing for news about his family after being injured and hospitalized. He learns from a fellow relief worker, H. Macy Greer, who recounts various personal experiences from the front, about the silent fear and emotional turmoil faced by soldiers separated from their loved ones. As the narrative unfolds, we witness Jean's journey back to his childhood home, Réchamp, alongside Greer, to reconnect with his family amid the devastation. Along the way, he also discovers the resourcefulness and bravery of his fiancée, Yvonne Malo, who has stayed behind to care for the household during the German occupation. The novel intricately weaves their personal struggles with broader themes of resilience, love, and the harsh realities of war, culminating in a poignant reflection on what it means to come home amidst unbearable circumstances. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Edith Newbold Wharton was an American writer and designer. Wharton drew upon her insider's knowledge of the upper-class New York "aristocracy" to portray, realistically, the lives and morals of the Gilded Age. In 1921, she became the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, for her novel, The Age of Innocence. She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame, in 1996. Her other well-known works are The House of Mirth, the novella Ethan Frome, and several notable ghost stories.