Edith Wharton 
The Reef 

‘The Reef’ is a 1912 novel by American writer Edith Wharton that came more or less in the middle of her novel-writing career. It came after the triumph of ‘The House of Mirth’ and before her Pulitzer Prize-winning turn with ‘The Age of Innocence’.



Set in and around London, ‘The Reef’ is a story of complex morality and its intricately woven place in society. 

George Darrow, an American diplomat residing in London, has remained in contact with his former love, Anna Leath, who previously married another man. Now widowed, she resumes contact with Darrow . Both of them experience doubts about their union, with surprising outcomes. Darrow has a brief liaison with the delicate, generous Sophy Viner, a kind woman of the working class. She later meets Anna’s stepson Owen Leath, who wishes to upset social conventions and marry her. When Anna’s discovers the intimate history of Darrow and Sophy, she worries about her stepson’s affections and feels concerned about the alliance she herself is about to create…

Wharton’s talent for balancing emotional turmoil and all the social manners of her time is blended into this philosophical work that explores the metaphorical reefs in the hearts of women.