Several fellow BL'ers have recently been extolling the virtues and talents of Edith Wharton; so much so that I've actually been tempted to pick up one of her books, even though I'm pretty sure the stories themselves wouldn't appeal to me (vapid characters, unhappy endings, etc.). So when I saw this little gem for .10 at a recent book sale it was a sign - kismit - a way to experience Ms. Wharton's writing without depressing myself in the process.

Souls Belated starts mid-scene, two people on a train avoiding each other and the conversation they must have and the reader has no idea why or what the conversation is about. The ending isn't sad, but it isn't uplifting either; it's a defeat via success. I don't want to say much more than that - it's a short story and therefore easy to spoil.

But the writing is brilliant and the author perfectly encapsulates the snake-eating-its-own-tail dilemma these two find themselves in and then magnifies it with the woman's over-inflated sense of her own intellectualism. She has truly thought her way into a corner.

A fast read, but one that leaves the reader with plenty to mull over or enjoy as karmic justice. Sometimes the passion of your convictions can truly paint you into a corner and leave you exposed to your own hypocrisy. ( )

Wharton is so very good at exploring and capturing the psychology of characters and relationships, what drives the individual and how that influences the interactions. I love love love the tender yet vicious way she portrays the upper class. I could just dine off an "Edith Wharton dissection of the upper class" generator indefinitely.

However, I found the ghost stories rather lacking but that's mostly personal preference. Also I don't know why I was so surprised at the first ghost story I encountered in this collection. I feel like I should've guessed that she wrote them since she and Henry James were such pals. ( )

Even after finishing this book I do not really get the title. But that did not get in the way of me liking this book.

Ususally I dislike stories about love and (broken) relationships. This one got my attention, I think because of the unusual point of view and strange way of plunging into it. ( )

A mini-book containing a short story about an unmarried Victorian couple who have been travelling around Europe since Lydia ran away from her husband to be with her lover. Now that her husband has divorced her, Lydia finds herself unwilling to contemplate re-marriage.

"It may be necessary that the world should be ruled by conventions - but if we believed in them, why did we break through them? And if we don't believe in them, is it honest to take advantage of the protection they afford?" ( )