Edith Wharton
Edith Wharton was born Edith Newbold Jones on January 24, 1862 in New York City. Her parents, George and Lucretia Jones, had roots in aristocracy dating back three centuries. As a daughter of society, Edith was expected to learn the mannerisms and rituals that were appropriate to her social class. She would later rebel against this role when she became a celebrated author. Rather than the limited scope of her schoolwork, Wharton based her books on research she did in her her father's...