Edith Wharton 
The Children 

A bestseller when it was first published in 1928, Edith Wharton’s ‘The Children’ is a comic, bittersweet novel about the misadventures of a bachelor and a band of precocious children. 



The seven Wheater children, stepbrothers and stepsisters grown weary of being shuttled from parent to parent ‘like bundles, ‘ are eager for their parents’ latest reconciliation to last. A chance meeting between the children and the solitary forty-six-year-old Martin Boyne leads to a series of unforgettable encounters. Among the colourful cast of characters are the Wheater adults, who play out their own comedy of marital errors; the flamboyant Marchioness of Wrench; and the vivacious fifteen-year-old Judith Wheater, who captures Martin’s heart. 



With deft humour and touching drama, Wharton portrays a world of intrigues and infidelities, skewering the manners and mores of Americans abroad.