The Age of Desire

Jennie Fields

Aug 2012 · Blackstone Audio Inc. · Narrated by Meredith Mitchell

About this audiobook

They say that behind every great man is a woman. Behind Edith Wharton, there was Anna Bahlmann—her governess turned literary secretary, and her mothering, nuturing friend. When at the age of forty-five Edith falls passionately in love with a dashing, younger journalist, Morton Fullerton, and is at last opened to the world of the sensual, it threatens everything certain in her life—but especially her abiding friendship with Anna. As Edith’s marriage crumbles, the women must face the fragility at the heart of all friendships. The Age of Desire takes us on a vivid journey through Wharton’s early Gilded Age world: Paris with its glamorous literary salons and dark secret cafes, the Wharton’s elegant house in Lenox, Massachusetts, and Henry James’ manse in Rye, England. Edith’s real letters and intimate diary entries are woven throughout the book. The Age of Desire brings to life one of literatures most beloved writers, whose own story was as complex and nuanced as that of any of the heroines she created.

About the author

Jennie Fields received an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop and is the author of the novels Lily Beach, Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, The Middle Ages, and The Age of Desire. A Chicago native, Fields was inspired by her own mother's work as a University of Chicago-trained biochemist in the 1950s. Fields now lives with her husband in Nashville, Tennessee.

Meredith Mitchell is an actress who has performed in film, in television, and on stage. Her film work includes Mona Lisa Smile and The Reunion. She has recorded numerous audiobooks, and she earned her MFA in acting from Brandeis University.