Highlighting the position of women in turn of the century America, this novel uses the text from the original 1905 edition, including eight contemporary illiustrations. A section on backgrounds and contexts reprints selections from Edith Wharton's letters, contemporary articles about vocations for women and excerpts from the work of women thinkers of the time, all enabling the student to place the novel in its context. Six contemporary reviews of the novel and six modern critical essays complete the criticism section.