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Available
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Collection
Publication
Virago Modern Classics / Penguin (1986), Paperback, 353 pages
Description
In this classic by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Age of Innocence, a mother's past complicates her daughter's future in 1920s New York. Trapped in an unhappy marriage with a controlling husband, Kate Clephane began an affair with a wealthy man, only to lose her daughter, Anne, and be exiled from New York society. Years later, after their entanglement has ended, Kate meets Chris Fenno in France. Although he is a much younger man, Chris is the love of Kate's life. However, their difficult circumstances get in the way of their burgeoning romance. Chris is called back to America, leaving Kate alone in a third-rate hotel on the French Riviera. Then, more than twenty years after she left the United States, Kate receives a telegram asking her to return to New York City. Anne is now fully grown and about to be married. When Kate arrives, she finds her daughter hopes to rebuild their relationship. However, their reunion may not be so peaceful when Kate discovers Anne's fiancé is not only a bit of an opportunist, but also the man Kate still loves.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member lauralkeet
In one of Edith Wharton's later novels, the author explores issues of morality and sexuality in the context of a mother-daughter relationship. Kate Clephane left a loveless marriage and was denied further contact with her young daughter Anne. She escaped to the French Riviera and moved among
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society there. Kate and Anne are reunited many years later. Anne is now a young adult, and surprisingly welcoming. She introduces Kate to post-World War I New York society, where much has changed from the world Kate once knew. Anne and Kate's relationship blossoms, but is severely tested when one of Kate's "old flames" arrives on the scene. For the first time in many years, Kate has to think about someone other than herself, and sort through several moral dilemmas. Wharton is masterful at showing the constraints women faced in those days, and resolves the conflict in what was probably the only way possible. Wharton is one of my favorite authors, and I really enjoyed this book. Show Less
LibraryThing member BeyondEdenRock
‘The Mother’s Recompense’ is one of Edith Wharton’s later novels, published in 1925.
It tells the story of Kate Clephane, an American who lived in exile on the French Riviera. She had been unhappy in her marriage, trapped by a controlling husband, and so she fled with another man. He left
It was not easy to feel sympathy for a woman who had abandoned her daughter, but I did. Because Kate Clephane was a real, complex, human being, and she was as interesting as any woman I have met in the pages of an Edith Wharton novel.
She had accepted her situation; she had just one regret, and memories that haunted her ….
It was in France, at the start of the First World War, that Kate Clephane met the love of her life. Chris Fenno was a much younger man, and they were happy together until family ties, and practical matters, called him home to America. Kate was left to live alone again, in genteel poverty.
Two telegrams changed her life. The first told her that her mother-in-law, the formidable woman in whose lifetime Kate would never dare go home, was dead. And the second asked her to come home. Anne, the daughter who had grown up without her mother, wanted her to come. Kate was ecstatic, and she went without a moment’s hesitation.
Anne is as eager as Kate to build a mother/daughter relationship and soon they are devoted to each other. But they don’t really no each other, and they don’t talk about the most important things of all. Kate simply loves her daughter above anything else.
She sees that society has changed, but she quickly finds that she cannot talk about her past; the rules may be different for her daughter’s generation, but not for hers.
It was fascinating to watch, but the key point of the story was still to come:
Kate sees Chris Fenno again; and then she discovers that he is the man her daughter plans to marry.
She is shattered. She wants to prevent the wedding, but she knew she could not anyone even guess her reasons, because that could damage her relationship with her daughter irreparably. But without explaining her reason she has no grounds for insisting that Anne – who is as passionate as her mother and as stubborn as her grandmother – give up the man her heart is set on.
There was a hint of contrivance about the situation a and a dash of melodrama – but Kate’s dilemma was horribly real, and her emotions were complex. She was aware that she was growing older, that she feelings about her lost love were still strong, that the rules instilled in her could not be easily shaken off, that she wanted to do the right thing but she did not know if she could live with that.
So many themes that have been threaded through other books, and I found echoes of other characters and other stories in this one.
I don’t think it is Edith Wharton’s best work though; the story needed a little more space to breathe, the supporting characters needed a little more time to come to life, and because of that the story seemed just a little hazy in places.
It feels unfinished, unpolished, but it is still a very readable novel, and a much more interesting piece of work than I’d been lead to believe.
And the ending is perfect: uplifting and heartbreaking at the same time, and it highlights Kate Clephane’s character beautifully.
And that is what will stay with me ….
.
It tells the story of Kate Clephane, an American who lived in exile on the French Riviera. She had been unhappy in her marriage, trapped by a controlling husband, and so she fled with another man. He left
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her, but that wasn’t what broke her heart; losing her infant daughter did that. And so for more than twenty years Kate her life among the quietly alongside so many others who had broken society’s rules.It was not easy to feel sympathy for a woman who had abandoned her daughter, but I did. Because Kate Clephane was a real, complex, human being, and she was as interesting as any woman I have met in the pages of an Edith Wharton novel.
She had accepted her situation; she had just one regret, and memories that haunted her ….
It was in France, at the start of the First World War, that Kate Clephane met the love of her life. Chris Fenno was a much younger man, and they were happy together until family ties, and practical matters, called him home to America. Kate was left to live alone again, in genteel poverty.
Two telegrams changed her life. The first told her that her mother-in-law, the formidable woman in whose lifetime Kate would never dare go home, was dead. And the second asked her to come home. Anne, the daughter who had grown up without her mother, wanted her to come. Kate was ecstatic, and she went without a moment’s hesitation.
Anne is as eager as Kate to build a mother/daughter relationship and soon they are devoted to each other. But they don’t really no each other, and they don’t talk about the most important things of all. Kate simply loves her daughter above anything else.
She sees that society has changed, but she quickly finds that she cannot talk about her past; the rules may be different for her daughter’s generation, but not for hers.
It was fascinating to watch, but the key point of the story was still to come:
Kate sees Chris Fenno again; and then she discovers that he is the man her daughter plans to marry.
She is shattered. She wants to prevent the wedding, but she knew she could not anyone even guess her reasons, because that could damage her relationship with her daughter irreparably. But without explaining her reason she has no grounds for insisting that Anne – who is as passionate as her mother and as stubborn as her grandmother – give up the man her heart is set on.
There was a hint of contrivance about the situation a and a dash of melodrama – but Kate’s dilemma was horribly real, and her emotions were complex. She was aware that she was growing older, that she feelings about her lost love were still strong, that the rules instilled in her could not be easily shaken off, that she wanted to do the right thing but she did not know if she could live with that.
So many themes that have been threaded through other books, and I found echoes of other characters and other stories in this one.
I don’t think it is Edith Wharton’s best work though; the story needed a little more space to breathe, the supporting characters needed a little more time to come to life, and because of that the story seemed just a little hazy in places.
It feels unfinished, unpolished, but it is still a very readable novel, and a much more interesting piece of work than I’d been lead to believe.
And the ending is perfect: uplifting and heartbreaking at the same time, and it highlights Kate Clephane’s character beautifully.
And that is what will stay with me ….
.
Show Less
LibraryThing member starbox
The novel opens in a seedy Riviera hotel, where resides Kate Clephane, a middle-aged, separated New York woman. Having long ago left an unhappy marriage- and an infant daughter - she lives in exile; achieving a gloss of respectability through church and good works, yet Kate absconded with another
But the love between the two is to face a massive jolt when Kate's former lover re-enters the tale as her daughter's betrothed...
A slight touch of the Victorian melodrama - yet in Kate's reaction (a combination of maternal love; fear at alienating her child; and plain old-fashioned jealousy) Edith Wharton creates an entirely plausible and sympathetic character.
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man. And - unknown to anyone else- has had a second relationship with a younger man, the love of her life. But that too has foundered, and she goes through the motions of life until a telegram informs her of the death of her mother-in-law - and the fact that her daughter (now an heiress and of age) seeks to re-establish a relationship with her long-absent mother...But the love between the two is to face a massive jolt when Kate's former lover re-enters the tale as her daughter's betrothed...
A slight touch of the Victorian melodrama - yet in Kate's reaction (a combination of maternal love; fear at alienating her child; and plain old-fashioned jealousy) Edith Wharton creates an entirely plausible and sympathetic character.
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LibraryThing member ivanfranko
Middle aged woman stays staunch with her guilt, and so forfeits a fulfilling life. Edith Wharton was an expert technician at producing moving, intelligent stories.
LibraryThing member lschiff
Some interesting questions in a typical Wharton setting. Liked the questions, pretty tired of the super rich people.
LibraryThing member kjuliff
Maternal Melodrama
During the 1920s in America a young woman, Kate, falls for wealthy New Yorker, who turns out to be not according to her taste. The marriage produces a daughter they call Anne, but when Anne is still an infant Kate runs off in the middle of the night to be with a new lover. Anne is
After a short while, Kate dumps her lover, and eventually meets a younger man called Chris, an American with an adventurous spirit who is good in bed. They have a few years of bliss and travel but being young Chris eventually tires of the older Kate and tells a fib - he says he has to return to New York but will be back. He never returns.
While Kate dreams hopefully and uselessly of his return she lives cheaply (by her standards) with her maid, in hotels on the French Riviera where rich Americans flock to what they call “American colonies”.There they pack their days with card playing, dinners, parties and visits from dignitaries, in order that they can forget about whatever past they have left.
Meanwhile the infant Anne has grown up and come of age. She has no memory of her mother Kate, but wants a mother. She’s living in the same Fifth Avenue mansion as the one Kate fled from 18 years ago. Her guardian turns out to be an old admirer of Kate ever since her New York days. He is all for Anne to reunite with her mother. He has been in love with Kate forever but his love has always been unrequited. Kate finds him a bore.
Anne telegraphs to Kate who is surprised to hear from the daughter who she was unable to even visit after she fled the mansion. Anne asks Kate to return. Kate does, happy to leave her shallow life.
The ingredients: A thityish man, sexy and adventurous, but poor
A woman in her fifties still good-looking but on a fixed income.
An adoring older New York gentleman who loves Kate
Anne, the ingenue who wants a mother.
The rest would require a very large spoiler alert, so I’ll leave the action there, but action there surely is.
The book is well-written, and it’s an enjoyable read. Will she or won’t she? Noting there are two she’s. There is a bit of a drift into melodrama, but what does it matter? The writing is good and we are kept interested.
Recommended for those not averse to melodrama.
During the 1920s in America a young woman, Kate, falls for wealthy New Yorker, who turns out to be not according to her taste. The marriage produces a daughter they call Anne, but when Anne is still an infant Kate runs off in the middle of the night to be with a new lover. Anne is
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left to be raised by her father and after the his death lives alone, with her education and financial cares looked after by a family-appointed guardian. Kate and her new love travel from the marriage home on Fifth Avenue in New York to the French Riviera.After a short while, Kate dumps her lover, and eventually meets a younger man called Chris, an American with an adventurous spirit who is good in bed. They have a few years of bliss and travel but being young Chris eventually tires of the older Kate and tells a fib - he says he has to return to New York but will be back. He never returns.
While Kate dreams hopefully and uselessly of his return she lives cheaply (by her standards) with her maid, in hotels on the French Riviera where rich Americans flock to what they call “American colonies”.There they pack their days with card playing, dinners, parties and visits from dignitaries, in order that they can forget about whatever past they have left.
Meanwhile the infant Anne has grown up and come of age. She has no memory of her mother Kate, but wants a mother. She’s living in the same Fifth Avenue mansion as the one Kate fled from 18 years ago. Her guardian turns out to be an old admirer of Kate ever since her New York days. He is all for Anne to reunite with her mother. He has been in love with Kate forever but his love has always been unrequited. Kate finds him a bore.
Anne telegraphs to Kate who is surprised to hear from the daughter who she was unable to even visit after she fled the mansion. Anne asks Kate to return. Kate does, happy to leave her shallow life.
The ingredients: A thityish man, sexy and adventurous, but poor
A woman in her fifties still good-looking but on a fixed income.
An adoring older New York gentleman who loves Kate
Anne, the ingenue who wants a mother.
The rest would require a very large spoiler alert, so I’ll leave the action there, but action there surely is.
The book is well-written, and it’s an enjoyable read. Will she or won’t she? Noting there are two she’s. There is a bit of a drift into melodrama, but what does it matter? The writing is good and we are kept interested.
Recommended for those not averse to melodrama.
Show Less
Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1925
ISBN
0860684113 / 9780860684114