Ruth Leon recommends…. The Secret Life of Edith Wharton Ruth Leon recommendsnorman lebrecht August 11, 2026Edith Wharton, Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, short story writer and designer, died on 11th August 1937, eighty nine years ago this week. Nothing more was expected of young Edith than to marry a rich man and settle for summers in Rhode Island, winters in the South of France and the New York life of a society princess. Edith had always written – poetry, short stories and even a novel, but in secret, until her divorce (big scandal) freed her to see herself finally as a writer. Wharton lived much of her life in France and was honored with the French Legion of Honor for her relief work during World War I.