Edith Wharton

Bunner Sisters Edith Wharton

Edith Wharton is best known for writing The House of Mirth and the Pulitzer prize winning novel, The Age of Innocence -- works that criticized the lifestyle of the upper class. In Bunner Sisters, however, Wharton writes about the lower middle class, a stark contrast to her previous works.

Evelina and Ann Eliza are two spinster sisters living together in a one bedroom apartment. They mend clothes to make money though they run a small shop where they sell bonnets and preserves that they've made themselves. Their lives are ordinary, if not a bit dull. Then Mr. Ramy, the clock maker, enters their lives and it isn't long before Evelina marries him. Right after the wedding day, Mr. Ramy takes Evelina away, leaving Ann Eliza guessing about Evelina's whereabouts. She must delve into Mr. Ramy's past in order to find her sister -- for Evelina may be in too much trouble for her to get out alone.