Fans of Edith Wharton simply must read
Italian Villas and Their Gardens, which is considered the novelist's first published work. Century Magazine commissioned Wharton to write a series of articles on Italian villas and gardens. She then went on a four-month tour of Italy, which is described in loving detail in
Italian Villas and Their Gardens. Wharton's articles are accompanied by 26 illustrations by painter Maxfield Parrish, whose dreamlike scenes transport the reader to scenic Italy.
The book gives a detailed history of Italian garden architecture and ornamentation by exploring over 75 villas. Wharton expertly describes the magic of these traditional gardens and explains the relationship between the local countryside, the villas and their formal gardens. Wharton was one of the first writers to take the study of formal gardens as seriously as other forms of art and architecture, and
Italian Villas and Their Gardens influenced generations of landscape artists and writers. As any devoted reader of
The Age of Innocence and
The House of Mirth knows, Wharton's novels always contain intricate descriptions of houses, gardens and decor. She used descriptions of houses and their surroundings as expressions of her characters' inner struggles. Wharton had a passion for European culture and she displays quite a command of Italian garden architecture in
Italian Villas and Their Gardens.
The themes of Wharton's fiction typically include journeys or travels or displacement. Cultural tensions also figure prominently, whether they are between new conventions and old traditions, or between European mores and American ways. These same concerns are intimated in
Italian Villas and Their Gardens, which is a travelogue containing beautiful descriptions of an Italian tradition. This wonderful book will thrill readers.
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