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The Children

Edith Wharton author Marilyn French editor

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Little, Brown Book Group

Published:19th Jan '06

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

The Children cover

* A bestseller when it was first published in 1928, THE CHILDREN is a touching, bittersweet novel about a middle-aged man's relationship with a band of unruly children - and of his conflicting feelings for the eldest, a girl on the cusp of womanhood.

On a cruise ship between Algiers and Venice Martin Boyne, a bachelor in his forties, befriends a band of ebullient, precocious children. The seven Wheater stepbrothers and sisters, grown weary of being shuttled between mother and father 'like bundles', are eager for their parents' latest reconciliation to last. They are kept together as a 'family' by the eldest, Judith, who takes on the role of protector. Genuinely outraged at the plight of the 'homeless' and fought-over children, Boyne finds himself increasingly drawn to their enchanting, improper and liberating ways. Among the colourful cast of characters are the Wheater adults, who play out their own comedy of marital errors; the flamboyant Marchioness of Wrench; and the vivacious fifteen-year-old Judith Wheater, who captures Martin's heart. With deft humour and touching drama, Wharton portrays a world of intrigues and infidelities, skewering the manners and mores of Americans abroad.

An engrossing picture of middle-aged infatuation * The TIMES *
A writer for our time * Marilyn French *

ISBN: 9781844082926

Dimensions: 198mm x 126mm x 25mm

Weight: 294g

368 pages