Jennie Fields

Writing a novel about real people has an unexpected benefit: the characters may have living, breathing relatives you can actually meet. Anna Bahlmann — Edith Wharton’s governess, then secretary — was one of the two main characters in my novel, “The Age of Desire”. This week, I had the great pleasure of hosting her great grandniece, Laura Shoffner. Laura is the woman who discovered over 100 letters from Edith to Anna and brought them to Christie's for auction in 2009...

Reading "The Age of Desire" at Barnes & Noble in New York.

I’ve just completed a wonderful trip across the U.S., sharing my new book, “The Age of Desire.” As I traveled, I saw some of the most striking landscapes in the United States, from the sylvan beauty of Lenox, Massachusetts — where I was so thrilled to read at Edith Wharton’s home, The Mount — to the sparkling turquoise waters of La Jolla, California. I will carry those beautiful visual memories with me always.  But I also learned several more subtle and indelible truths...    

Like the social atmosphere in New York during the period in which this novel is set, this cocktail seems delicate and refined on the outside but is pure booze under the surface.

The chair that started my book tour. The one in my writing room where I wrote "The Age of Desire"...

It was such a thrill to read at The Mount and on the very terrace where this scene takes place. Morton Fullerton has come to visit Edith at The Mount, it's snowed, and, as all the other guests have gone to bed, they are together, alone for very the first time....

What was waiting for me at my hotel in St. Louis - a plate of Edith Wharton's beloved macarons, but, even better, my own The Age of Desire cookie, far too beautiful to eat!

My interview with Lynn Neary on All Things Considered about Edith Wharton and The Age of Desire

A silver sage velvet chair in the grand old Warwick Hotel.

There are few times in one’s life that you can say, “I’ll remember this as long as I live.” Last night was one of those moments. I had the opportunity to read to a sold-out crowd on the terrace at the Mount, Edith Wharton’s beloved home....

 Chairs waiting at The Mount, Edith Wharton's home and the first stop on my book tour.

In less than two weeks, I’ll be reading at The Mount from my new novel, The Age of Desire, a novel about Edith Wharton’s life, and particularly the years 1907-1910 when she met and fell in love with Morton Fullerton... 

Did Edith Wharton love screened porches as much as I do?

Edith’s writing is still relevant.  It can sweep us away a hundred years after the fact.  I hope The Age of Desire will sweep you away, and perhaps, though it is set in Paris at the turn of the last century, you will find a little bit of yourself in her story...