The Reef by Edith Wharton

I finished reading The Reef and I finally came up for air.  The Reef is a laboriously dull read. I wouldn't have finished it,  if it wasn't one of my book club's selections.  Edith Wharton is the first American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize.  At the beginning of the 20th C, Wharton was regarded as one of the most acclaimed novelists of her time.  Her other works include The House of Mirth & The Age of Innocence.  The Reef is a tale of naivety and snobbery that today doesn't hold water.  Wharton met fellow expat, Henry James who had a profound impact on her life and writings.  They both have the same loquacious, mired down style. When something finally happens, you no longer care.  The maudlin dilemma in this love quadrangle is between George & Anna, engaged to be married and Anna's step-son, Owen and his fiancee, Sophy had a previous affair with George.  Scandalous?  Perhaps @ the turn of the 20th C.  This is one painfully slow, obsolete novel;  reminiscent of tortuous high school syllabus reading.  The only credible comment came from George as they end their engagement from Anna langouring in anguish, "I'm not worth what I'm costing you…I've done a thing I loathe, and…put something irremediable between us."  What do I have against the writings of Wharton & James?  I find most of their novels dreadfully droll.  Skim over The Reef and read Ethan Frome instead and perhaps, James' Washington Square.