An unfinished and previously unpublished work by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edith Wharton, believed to have been written in 1918, has been brought to light more than a century after its creation. Titled The Men Who Saved the World, the story offers a poignant glimpse into the social disconnect during the First World War and is set to appear in the new issue of The Strand Magazine.
Wharton's Wartime Experience
Wharton, renowned for her incisive portrayals of New York society in novels such as The House of Mirth and The Custom of the Country, was living in Paris when the Great War erupted in 1914. Her initial response was not merely as a writer seeking inspiration, but as an active citizen. She established workrooms for those who had lost their livelihoods, set up hostels aiding thousands of refugees, and even reported from the trenches for a series of dispatches published in the American periodical Scribner's Magazine.
Inevitably, these profound experiences found their way into her fiction. She penned the post-war novel A Son at the Front, and later embarked on The Men Who Saved the World.
The Newly Discovered Narrative
This newly discovered narrative centres on an affluent couple in the French countryside who, convinced the war is progressing favourably, decide to resume their customary social gatherings. The Strand Magazine, known for releasing rare works by literary giants including Mark Twain and Ernest Hemingway, is now publishing the piece.
Andrew Gulli, Managing Editor of The Strand, introduces the story by noting: "The boom of guns can be heard in the distance. A few young soldiers sit among the guests. And the hostess wants to know whether they might have dancing." Gulli highlights Wharton’s enduring question: "what is the cost of refusing to see the horrors beyond the softly curtained windows — and who pays it?"
A Shift in Setting
Born into a wealthy New York City family in 1862, Wharton possessed an intimate understanding of the societal codes and traditions she so meticulously dissected in her most celebrated works. In The Men Who Saved the World, she shifts her narrative from the familiar New York drawing rooms to a French chateau situated mere miles from a battlefield, offering a stark contrast.
Wharton held a deep affection for France and its culture, which she considered "one of the greatest cultures in the world, perhaps the greatest culture," according to Wharton scholar Julie Olin-Ammentorp, who expressed uncertainty as to why the author never completed the story. The German offensive profoundly stirred Wharton's conscience and imagination.
The Story's Dramatic Core
The Men Who Saved the World vividly dramatises the chasm between civilian and military life, and the unsettling moments when they converge. The story unfolds through the eyes of Milly Arden, a young American nurse, who is a guest at the home of Fred and Madge Upshall. The couple are preparing a dinner party in the very setting where they once permitted an army surgeon to perform amputations. Arden finds herself seated beside Captain Sherman Wake, a war hero whom Mrs Upshall regards as one of the "real people." Captain Wake is eager to discuss the "catastrophic horror and waste" he has witnessed nearby.
"You hear the guns pretty distinctly here," Wake tells Arden. "They must make the windows rattle when everything’s quiet, don’t they?"
"Yes, they do," she responds, her gaze falling upon an orchid, which the cannonade had displaced just before dinner.
