The Children by Edith Wharton

The Story

When Martin Boyne, a middle-aged engineer, meets a lively band of seven siblings on a European journey, he is drawn to their courage, charm, and independence. But when the children’s parents abandon them, Boyne becomes their protector — and his life is changed forever.
As he tries to secure their future, Boyne finds himself torn between compassion and forbidden love for Judith, the eldest of the children, now on the threshold of womanhood. Set against the glittering yet unstable world of expatriate Europe, The Children is one of Wharton’s most daring and emotionally intricate novels.

Themes

• Innocence and Experience – The tension between youthful idealism and adult compromise.

• Love and Morality – Wharton’s exploration of affection that challenges social boundaries.

• Responsibility and Freedom – The moral cost of protecting others at the expense of oneself.

• Society and Change – A portrait of post-war Europe and the shifting values of its upper class.

About the Author

Edith Wharton (1862–1937) was the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and remains one of America’s most acclaimed novelists. Best known for The Age of Innocence and The House of Mirth, she combined social insight, elegance of style, and psychological depth to illuminate the hidden struggles of class and conscience.

Why You’ll Love This Book

The Children is a powerful, quietly subversive classic that reveals Wharton’s mastery of human emotion and moral tension. Perfect for readers who love literary fiction rich with nuance and atmosphere, it’s a novel that lingers — questioning the limits of duty, love, and honour.

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Keywords

The Children, Edith Wharton, classic literature, literary fiction, moral dilemma, historical novel, American classic, post-war Europe, love and responsibility, timeless fiction

Publishers Synopsis

On a cruise ship between Algiers and Venice Martin Boyne, a bachelor in his forties, befriends a band of ebullient, precocious children. The seven Wheater stepbrothers and sisters, grown weary of being shuttled between mother and father ‘like bundles’, are eager for their parents’ latest reconciliation to last. They are kept together as a ‘family’ by the eldest, Judith, who takes on the role of protector. Genuinely outraged at the plight of the ‘homeless’ and fought-over children, Boyne finds himself increasingly drawn to their enchanting, improper and liberating ways. 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.