The Age of Desire

Now in paperback, a sparkling glimpse into the life of Edith Wharton and the scandalous love affair that threatened her closest friendship, THE AGE OF DESIRE: A Novel (Penguin; On-sale: 5/28/13; $16.00; 978-0-14-312328-6), by Jennie Fields, brings to life one of literature’s most beloved writers, whose own story was as complex and nuanced as that of any of the heroines she created.

THE AGE OF DESIRE transports the reader to Edith Wharton’s life in the Gilded Age: glamorous salons and literary banter in Paris, visits to Henry James’s manse in Rye, England and house parties at the Whartons’ elegant estate in Massachusetts. This is the story of Edith’s illicit affair at the age of forty-five with a handsome young journalist, Morton Fullerton. It is only through this relationship that she at last feels she’s lived life. But the real heart of the tale is how her wayward passion affects the people who love her most: her unstable husband, Teddy, and especially Anna Bahlmann, her governess turned literary secretary, her confessor, and dear life-long friend.

Despite Edith’s whims, her endless travels, and a wit that is sometimes too sharp, Anna has dedicated her life to Edith and loves her more than she loves herself. But Edith’s relationship with Fullerton, a playboy cad in everyone’s view except Edith’s, pushes even Anna’s boundless loyalty to the breaking point.

Extraordinary coincidences, such as the sudden discovery of more than 100 letters from Edith to Anna make Jennie Fields’ own story of writing this novel remarkable. In THE AGE OF DESIRE, Fields seamlessly weaves these letters and other diary entries throughout a narrative that alternates between the points of view of both women, taking the reader on a vivid journey through Wharton’s exhilarating world.

About the Author

Jennie Fields received an MFA in creative writing from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop and is the author of the novels Lily Beach, Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, and The Middle Ages. An Illinois native, she spent twenty-five years as an advertising creative director in New York and currently lives with her husband in Nashville, Tennessee. For more information go to www.jenniefields.com.

“Should…appeal to those who enjoyed Paula McLain’s The Paris Wife.”—Library Journal

“Absorbingly sensuous” –Boston Globe

“Delicate and imaginative… Fields’s love and respect for all her characters and her care in

telling their stories shines through.”—Publishers Weekly

“A perceptive novel…deeply felt…sheds welcome light on the little-known private

life of a famous woman.”—Booklist

“Fields' characterization of Edith's husband, the hapless Teddy Wharton—particularly the manifestations of his depression and alcoholism—is masterful”—Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Readers who enjoyed Loving Frank and The Paris Wife will enjoy this well-researched glimpse into a period of Edith Wharton’s life. Being a fan of Edith Wharton is not a prerequisite for enjoying Fields’s novel, but if The Age of Desire brings readers back to Wharton’s own writing, so much the better.”

—Chapter 16

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