Edith Wharton's Travel Writing

Edith Wharton's seven works of travel have been called by the critic Blake Nevius 'brilliantly written and permanently interesting.' This collection spans three decades: from leisurely travel by yacht, diligence, railway and car during the belle epoque, through the horror and pathos of the French landscape during World War 1, to the Morocco of 1917 - a country previously forbidden to most women and foreigners. Scornful of guidebooks, Wharton focuses on the undiscovered by-ways of Europe, Morocco and the Mediterranean. Among the sites described are the towns of Tirano, Brescia, Poitiers and Chauvigny; the gardens of the Villa Caprarola and the Villa Aldobrandini, Frascati; Hippone and Goletta. An intrepid reporter, she also depicts the front lines of Lorraine and Vosges during World War I.