The Age of Desire

Reviews / Votes

Beautiful ... an imaginative tour-de-force with the best-written naughty bits I have ever read. -- Wendy Holden * Daily Mail * A fascinating insight into the life of my favourite novelist. Fields brings a secret side of Wharton to life, and shows us a woman whose elegant facade concealed a turbulent sensuality * Daisy Goodwin * With astonishing tenderness and immediacy, The Age of Desire portrays the interwoven lives of Edith Wharton and Anna Bahlmann, her governess, secretary, and close friend. By focusing on these two women from vastly different backgrounds, Jennie Fields miraculously illuminates an entire era....I was filled with regret that I'd finished reading so soon * Lauren Belfer, author of City of Light and A Fierce Radiance * [Fields'] portrayal of Edith Wharton in love is imaginative and bold and offers a touching view of Wharton... Fields immerses us in Wharton's household, her social milieu, and her most private self. * Irene Goldman-Price, editor of My Dear Governess: The Letters of Edith Wharton to Anna Bahlmann * This is a heartbreaking, exquisitely told story. Fields' imagining of the passions, desperation and divided loyalties of her subjects is mesmerizing. Highly recommended. * Historical Novel Society * In the vein of Loving Frank or The Paris Wife, Jennie Fields has created a page-turning period piece. Fields portrays a woman whose life was hardly innocence and mirth, but passionate, complex and more mysterious than one might ever imagine * Mary Morris, author of Nothing to Declare and Revenge * Perceptive... Deeply felt... Sheds welcome light on the little-known life of a famous woman * Booklist * Delicate and imaginative. Fields's love and respect for all her characters and her care in telling their stories shines through. * Publishers Weekly * Fields supplements the story with fascinating excerpts from Wharton's actual letters and includes appearances by other authors of the period . . . to re-create the exciting literary landscape of Paris and New York in the first decade of the 20th century. . . . the novel should . . . appeal to those who enjoyed Paula McLain's The Paris Wife. * Library Journal * Inspired by Wharton's letters, The Age of Desire is by turns sensuous . . . and sweetly melancholy. It's also a moving examination of a friendship between two women. * Bookpage *