The Dilettante. A Short Story by Edith Wharton. 

I love this style of writing.

One of the saddest books I have ever read is "House of Mirth" by Ms Wharton. Her "Ethan Frome" easily comes in 2nd place. She is not easy for me to understand. I hate to flipantly say that I might as well be reading Frankenstein but it is true I find I have to read at least 3/4 of the story before I begin to see a smidgen of what the plot/aim / theme of the story is. Very little comedy relief if any at all. They made movies of both, house of mirth and Ethan Frome, thank goodness bc I do see merit in her writings. I think she was a master of setting a gloomy mood.

How times have changed. Mrs V would be blackmailing Mr T now 😂

I find her work difficult to understand I get glimpses of clarity and then the fog descends 😅