Edith Wharton (1862—1937) was an American novelist and short story writer. Her works show the lives of people of the late nineteenth century, the times of decline in American history. She was the first woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in 1921. Wharton also was familiar with many famous people of the time, including President Theodore Roosevelt. Set in the small town of North Dormer, New England, the novel "Summer" follows eighteen-year-old librarian Charity Royall during her sexual awakening against the background of the cruel treatment by the father of her child, Lucius Harney, who doesn't want to marry her. Written in Wharton's firm style, the prose of this novella turns reading into sheer pleasure.