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The Bunner Sisters
The Bunner Sisters | Edith Wharton
19 posts | 19 read | 18 to read
The Bunner SistersBy Edith Wharton
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review
Graywacke
Bunner Sisters | Edith Wharton
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Pickpick

An early Wharton story about a shop run competently by two sisters in lower Manhattan, ~1890. This sisters have their tight bond, and codependency. An eligible bachelor strains all this. It looks at sibling relationships, and also at loneliness, loss, and, quietly, at longing. It's a lovely novella, showcasing Wharton's early natural sense of prose and composition.

Thanks #whartonbuddyread for the company and conversation!

60 likes2 comments
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Graywacke
Bunner Sisters | Edith Wharton
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Stuyevsant Park, 16th st Manhattan. 1910? (if our lady with puffy sleeves is our author)

Less ambitious than some of Wharton‘s work, she focuses on the Bunner sisters and their little stitching shop. The book looks at sibling relationships, poverty and industry, and ultimately loneliness and loss - and loss of faith and purpose.

It‘s been a while. What were your thoughts coming back to Wharton? Did you enjoy? Did you like these sisters?

Graywacke Two new littens joining us today - @vikaplus321 & @kenw3 I met them both on fb‘s Booker run Booker Prize Book Club. 1mo
Graywacke I‘m anxious to mention one possibly wrong idea. I felt this book hit most deeply in its look at loneliness. I felt, when Ann Eliza imagined being alone, and then was alone, the prose had something extra. I could sense more there. Maybe just my imagination. But curious if anyone else felt that. 1mo
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Graywacke And a second thought. We see this through Ann Eliza‘s eyes. I was intrigued how good and mature Ann Eliza seemed, a quiet hero. And how silly Evelina could seem. But…that‘s a perspective bias… right? ?? Would our feelings flip if we had Evelina‘s perspective? 1mo
TheBookHippie The beginning of this reminded of O‘Henry. I liked the look into poverty as opposed to rich people‘s lives in these times. I liked the realism and the non happily ever after ending. This soothed my realist heart. 🙃👀 Reminded me of two elderly sisters I took care of in the late 80s that never married. 1mo
TheBookHippie @Graywacke I thought of that too, was she really immature or was she trying to escape poverty or was she looking for love truly ? 1mo
vikaplus321 @Graywacke Happy to be here!

I enjoyed spending 100+ pages in New York City of 1892, with Ann Eliza and Evelina Bunner. For me two sisters represent two sides we each have: a responsible ( a business owner, a caregiver, older sister) and spontaneous (lighter mood, more extroverted, younger sister). @Graywacke it is surely about loss and loneliness; it is also about change and aging, feeling mortal and burying the younger sibling
(edited) 1mo
vikaplus321 @TheBookHippie realistic “not so happy“ ending seems to be Wharton's signature. Death, poverty (materialistic or spiritual), loss and loneliness - I wonder how much of that EW felt or witnessed to write so deeply about it? 1mo
TheBookHippie @vikaplus321 it‘s why I like reading her works 😅🙃. I have always assumed she was hugely empathetic and experienced or witnessed (or both) things she‘s written about. 1mo
kenw3 Hello @Graywacke and everyone else. This is my first foray into Litsy. It‘s very exciting and I‘m so happy to be here. On your point about loneliness I couldn‘t help but think that EW writes about longing so well. That word usually means longing for a person/love but this is further than that, it‘s a really transcendent depiction of a woman longing for direction, a life, to be good. 1mo
kenw3 I was also thinking about the missing “The” on the title. I think the novella is about the changing industrial world in the Gilded Age. Removing “the” makes it the same name as the shop rather than a story about two sisters and their lives. The changing world and modernity happening. It reminded me of Martin Dressler which is set at roughly the same time. Those small shops making way for the huge department stores. 1mo
Leftcoastzen I was so pulled into this story! When you are just barely making a living in this era, any difficulty is daunting. The distance from New York to St. Louis might as well be halfway around the globe. I felt that the sisters were sort of contented with their lot , though success & happiness was mostly judged by marrying well. My thoughts ran to if Ramy is any kind of a prize , why isn‘t he already taken! 1mo
Graywacke @TheBookHippie i was thinking of O‘Henry because of the sort of gimmick - sisters broken by trickster - and that central trick defines my limited knowledge of OH. But i felt the trick isn‘t ultimately central to the impact of the story - if that makes sense. And - yeah - “soothed my realist heart”. Also Evelina‘s motivations and consequences deserve some reflection. 1mo
Graywacke @vikaplus321 i didn‘t pick up this was 1892! How did you catch that? The responsible/spontaneous theme - yeah, spot on. (Makes me think of Lonesome Dove living on a stoic/epicurean theme). Aging is central. But also the sisters aren‘t that old. They‘re nearing the end of their childbearing years (as the clock so heavily reminds us!). I found myself struggling with Ann Eliza‘s thinking vs her age. 1mo
TheBookHippie @Graywacke Exactly it started out that way but then it was so much more and had way more depth and layers than O Henry! 1mo
Graywacke @vikaplus321 @TheBookHippie it‘s always tricky to compare the very wealthy Wharton nee Jones with the look at her more impoverished characters. There‘s a paternalistic danger there. I think the woman with puffy sleeves openly tells us readers this story is actually that woman‘s perspective on shopkeepers she has dealt with. What do you think? If so, it‘s genuinely honest. And, if it‘s 1892 nyc and she‘s writing in WWI France…it‘s a story… ? 1mo
Graywacke @kenw3 love having you and @vikaplus321 here. This longing comment - i didn‘t see it, and now i can‘t not see it. It really opens the story up. Thank you! And - there is a social justice side to Wharton. See House of Mirth! Wharton was always struggling with the changing world. Interesting about the missing “the”. 1mo
Graywacke @Leftcoastzen such a fragile existence. Can you imagine not knowing, needing something like a $25k train ticket to get there? (actually $50 then is estimated at about $1.8k today) No other info. I felt so blind and helpless there. Ramy - I think he managed to hold himself together and had a story. And he took advantage of his poor English. He was a savvy little bastard. Why do you think he proposed to Ann Eliza 1st? Practical or other reason? 1mo
Graywacke @TheBookHippie yes, my sense too. Still working on this one. My poor Ann Eliza. ☺️😢 1mo
TheBookHippie @Leftcoastzen I was immediately pulled in!! 1mo
Graywacke So, two more themes. The clock and Evelina. The clock is a heavy handed biological clock that drives Evelina. They can still have children. (Wharton was childless in her 50‘s when she wrote this?) And it‘s a mortality clock. It hammers loudly throughout part I. 1mo
TheBookHippie @Graywacke It reminds me a tiny bit of the stories Jane Addams told of Halsted St in Chicago. 1mo
Graywacke Evelina - what were her motivations? She got a couple things she wanted. Love, marriage, sex, independence, and a child. It turned out to be all smoke. But she tried. And she bonded with that baby, changing her religion. She also scorned her supportive, sacrificing sister. I think she was impulsive but also brave and aware. If longing is a theme, it moved her. 1mo
Graywacke @TheBookHippie i don‘t know Jane Addams. Her life was simultaneous with Whartons - born two years earlier, died two years earlier. Tell more about her? What should i read? 🙂 1mo
TheBookHippie @Graywacke Democracy & Ethics ..Hull House…she‘s a hero activist of mine since I was young. 1mo
Leftcoastzen I visited the Hull House museum when I visited Chicago . A great experience. 1mo
Graywacke @TheBookHippie wow. Sad i‘m just learning her name here. @Leftcoastzen sounds fantastic! 1mo
Leftcoastzen A fragile existence indeed . Ramy was a crafty one ! Maybe he proposed to Ann Eliza first because she was the eldest & more “in charge “ ? Thought she would block Evelinas chances maybe? 1mo
TheBookHippie @Leftcoastzen I agree it‘s amazing. There was a cool hotel for awhile called the ST JANE dedicated to her. Unfortunately COVID took it out. It was fun to stay in, the rooms had her books! 1mo
vikaplus321 @Graywacke according to Wikipedia:

“Bunner Sisters is a novella written by American author Edith Wharton, published in 1916. Although she had written the story in 1892, it was rejected twice by Scribner's because of its length and it “being unsuitable to serial publication“.[1] It was not published until 1916 in her book with a collection of other shorter works, Xingu and Other Stories.[2]“
(edited) 1mo
Graywacke @vikaplus321 oh. Wow. I didn‘t know. So it‘s one of her earliest stories! Wow. And she turned 30 in 1892. (The clock was ticking.) 1mo
Lcsmcat Late to the party, but here are some thoughts. Ann Eliza was the self-sacrificing female “ideal” giving up her “hope of happiness “ (as if!) so her sister could be happy. And then neither of them was. Ramy was the agent of all the ills, but not really the cause. I wonder if Wharton, who defied her society‘s norms to do what she wanted to do, was trying to show that self-sacrifice isn‘t all her mother‘s generation thought it was. 1mo
Lcsmcat @kenw3 Love your observation about the missing “the”! The story is about a lot of losses, and identity is one of them. 1mo
Lcsmcat @Leftcoastzen I think he proposed to her first because he thought she controlled the money. And, watching how she deferred to her sister he probably thought he could push her around more. 1mo
Leftcoastzen @Lcsmcat yes ! I was walking around the house , picking up ,still thinking about it and agree with your thoughts on the money and pushing her around! 1mo
Graywacke @Lcsmcat @Leftcoastzen in hindsight, i think he thought she would be easier to control. I agree with you both 1mo
Graywacke @Lcsmcat I don‘t think it‘s against self-sacrifice. I think Ann Eliza would have been happy if the sisters has remained together forever. I think it‘s revealing that she was satisfied with a proposal, and satisfied to say no. It was a fulfilling experience for her. But - self-sacrifice “isn‘t all…(they)…thought it was” - yeah, that. Evelina wanted more and Ann Eliza doesn‘t analyze her motivations 1mo
kenw3 On Evelina what struck me was that her dealings with Ramy are all outside of the direct action of the story, including their very first interaction which leads to him coming into their home. I really like that openness and it enables us as readers to focus in really closely to Ann Eliza‘s psychology. As a woman at that time agency was such difficult terrain. Did anyone else love “merciless prolixity”? The language in this text really is wonderful. (edited) 1mo
Graywacke @kenw3 chapter 8 was my favorite chapter. Because of the prose. I just revisited that paragraph. It‘s fantastic 1mo
CarolynM @Lcsmcat has summed up my thoughts. A sad and absorbing story. 1mo
Graywacke @CarolynM yes, that! 1mo
Graywacke Is it too soon to ask about next reads? I have a personal plan. But not sure it‘s something others want to join throughout. 1mo
Lcsmcat It‘s never too soon to talk about books. 😂 1mo
Graywacke @CarolynM @Currey @IMASLOWREADER @jewright @kenw3 @Lcsmcat @Leftcoastzen @TheBookHippie @vikaplus321 - hi guys. I‘m currently Booker obsessed. But let me if you‘re interested in reading Fast and Loose in October. This is Wharton‘s 1st novel, written in 1876-1877 when she was 15. It was published posthumously. 1mo
Lcsmcat I‘m absolutely interested. 1mo
TheBookHippie @Graywacke oh for sure! 1mo
Currey Yes, Oct would be great. I long ago gave up on reading the whole long list. I would inevitably read all but one or two and without fail, one of those would be the winner. I try reading the short list, still largely fail, but still try. (edited) 1mo
Graywacke @Currey I didn‘t know you were reading any of the Booker longlist. Do you want me to tag you on reviews. There a small collection of us Booker peeps. 4w
Graywacke @Lcsmcat @TheBookHippie @Currey - and I‘ll plan for an October read of Fast and Loose. I‘ll send dates once i figure it out. 4w
Currey @Graywacke If you could tag me once the short list comes out, that would be great. 4w
Graywacke @Currey sep 23 🙂 4w
jewright @Graywacke —Yes, please. 2w
Graywacke @jewright hi. You were missed. I‘m haven‘t made October plans yet for Fast and Loose. But i‘ll get there 🙂 2w
45 likes53 comments
blurb
Graywacke
Bunner Sisters | Edith Wharton
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Tomorrow (but not at this specific time 🙂)
#whartonbuddyread

TheBookHippie I have to say I really enjoyed it. 🙃 1mo
Leftcoastzen I‘ll probably be ready in time ! 1mo
vikaplus321 I enjoyed the novella, and am looking forward to our chat tomorrow. Thank you for including me. 1mo
Currey I enjoyed it also. I was very happy to be back in Wharton‘s words. 1mo
35 likes5 comments
blurb
Graywacke
Bunner Sisters | Edith Wharton
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One week till we discuss Bunner Sisters #whartonbuddyread

Leftcoastzen In my possession! Haven‘t started yet. 1mo
Leftcoastzen It‘s in this collection , library of America 1mo
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Graywacke @Leftcoastzen that collection looks lush! 1mo
Leftcoastzen Yes ,it‘s nice ! I do have some of the Library of America titles, this one I borrowed from the library. 😁 1mo
Graywacke @Leftcoastzen 💜 libraries! 1mo
vikaplus321 Got mine and starting today 1mo
Graywacke @vikaplus321 ❤️ it‘s a small commitment 🙂 1mo
Graywacke @kenw3 find us here! 1mo
39 likes9 comments
blurb
Graywacke
Bunner Sisters | Edith Wharton
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Reminder #whartonbuddyread -ers. See you in 13 days - July 26

38 likes1 stack add5 comments
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Graywacke
Bunner Sisters | Edith Wharton
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Whose up for a buddy read of this? It‘s 100 pages. I suggest we chat July 26, in one month.

#whartonbuddyread

@AllDebooks @CarolynM @Currey @IMASLOWREADER @jewright @LapReader @Lcsmcat @Leftcoastzen @TheBookHippie

Lcsmcat I‘m in, although I may comment late. The 26th is my Mom‘s 90th birthday celebration. Thirty people, four generations, lots of food! 2mo
dabbe @Lcsmcat How cool is this? Happiest of birthdays to your mom! 🤩😍🤩 2mo
Graywacke @Lcsmcat wow. That‘s really special. We‘ll celebrate for her a little here in Litsy. 2mo
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Currey @Lcsmcat How wonderful. I hope you got her genes and fortitude!! 2mo
Currey @Graywacke Absolutely I am in and that day is good for me. 2mo
Lcsmcat @dabbe @Graywacke Thanks! And yes, @Currey I hope so too. She is still very independent. 2mo
IMASLOWREADER me🙋🏻‍♀️ 2mo
CarolynM I'm in. Thanks Dan 2mo
jewright I‘m in, please! 2mo
Graywacke @jewright how did i not tag you? !! I‘m really glad you found this post 2mo
Graywacke @jewright ok. Sorry. I did tag you. I feel better. Disregard… 2mo
Leftcoastzen I would like to join in ! 2mo
Graywacke @CarolynM @Currey @IMASLOWREADER @jewright @Lcsmcat @Leftcoastzen @TheBookHippie - i lured @vikaplus321 onto our group read. 🙂She‘s a friend from my facebook booker prize group and has become a reading buddy. And she‘s new to Litsy. She joined and already posted yesterday. (I might get one other reading buddy to join. He‘s busy though.) 2mo
vikaplus321 @Graywacke Happy to be here, thank you for the invitation! 2mo
Graywacke @vikaplus321 warm welcome! 2mo
TheBookHippie Yes!!!! 2mo
TheBookHippie @Lcsmcat How lovely!!!! 2mo
Lcsmcat Welcome @vikaplus321 ! 2mo
41 likes20 comments
review
Daisey
The Bunner Sisters | Edith Wharton
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Pickpick

I now know not to expect happy endings from Wharton, but the details of this one still surprised me. She writes beautifully and pulls you into the lives of the women she describes, in this case two sisters running their own small shop in New York City who meet a local bachelor. Then, you just wait to see how things will fall apart. Again, I find that I tend to enjoy Wharton‘s shorter works more than her longer novels.

#audiobook #1001books

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Currey
The Bunner Sisters | Edith Wharton

#whartonbuddyread
Hello and Happy Holidays to all. I was wondering if we are going to continue or take a break until the New Year. Also, are there many more books to go? Maybe The Gods was her last?

Lcsmcat The Buccaneers was her last written (and unfinished) novel, but Fast and Loose was published last. I‘m fine with waiting until January - December is really busy for me - but will make time for it if others want to read in December. 9mo
Graywacke Thanks for the nudge. I‘m thinking Buccaneers in January at a slow pace because i made conflicting plans. There‘s also A Backward Glance. And i was wondering there might be interest in the Hermione Lee biography. @Lcsmcat 9mo
Currey Great. I will assume a Wharton starting in January. Have a wonderful December. 9mo
10 likes3 comments
review
AshleyHoss820
Bunner Sisters | Edith Wharton
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Pickpick

Edith Wharton captures humanity in such a realistic, soul-bearing way. The pressure of society, isolation, familial obligation...she‘s a master. This tale of two sisters and their relationship with one bachelor is definitely worth the read. As I‘ve warned before, Wharton doesn‘t write happily-ever-after. She gives you a window into a real world. #1001Books 195/1,001

BarbaraBB All Wharton wrote is magic 🤍 4y
AshleyHoss820 @BarbaraBB I really enjoy her work. She is so thoughtful and thought-provoking. She can take an ordinary person‘s life and evoke such emotion from it. 4y
BarbaraBB Definitely. I do preferred her bigger books though, don‘t you? 4y
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AshleyHoss820 @BarbaraBB Oh, yes! Age of Innocence was magnificent. By far my favorite of her, so far!! 4y
batsy Great review! I loved this, too. 4y
AshleyHoss820 @batsy Thank you!! 😄 4y
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review
Riveted_Reader_Melissa
Bunner Sisters | Edith Wharton
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Pickpick

Another great one by Wharton...again so bittersweet but such a page turner too. She does social sacrifice and social twists so much better than anyone I‘ve ever read. I always get sucked in, and flip the pages, knowing the twist will be coming....and this one with 2 sisters falling for the same lonely bachelor, and the twisted paths that takes, definitely will be memorable.

#AuthorAMonth

batsy Great review; I really liked this too. She's ruthless about depicting the twists and turns of human nature. 5y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa @batsy Yes, if I just described the plot of these, I don‘t know if they‘d be as compelling...but she writes so well, and sucks you in so quickly that you care what happens, and they all become so memorable and stick with you. 5y
52 likes2 comments
review
dariazeoli
Bunner Sisters | Edith Wharton
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Pickpick

#AuthorAMonth

I enjoyed this novella, though I didn‘t expect it to take the dark turn it did. As one of the sisters writes, “...they who exchange their independence for the sweet name of Wife must be prepared to find all is not gold that glitters...”

She wasn‘t kidding!

I won‘t spoil the story, but I will say, be wary of gifting clocks. Time is shorter than we think!

Tamra Ohhh, this sounds good! I‘m a big fan of Wharton. (edited) 5y
63 likes5 stack adds1 comment
review
Eggs
The Bunner Sisters | Edith Wharton
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Mehso-so

Sad, impoverished sisters Anne Eliza and Evelina struggle to survive in Stuyvesant with their little odds and ends store. When they meet Ramy, whom they both “like”, their story begins to change...

#authoramonth
@Soubhiville

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Eggs
The Bunner Sisters | Edith Wharton
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“In the days when New York‘s traffic moved at the pace of the drooping horse-car, when society applauded Christine Nilsson at the Academy ofMusic and basked in the sunsets of the Hudson River School on the walls of the National Academy of Design, an inconspicuous shop with a single show-window was intimately and favourably known to the feminine population of the quarter bordering on Stuyvesant Square.” #firstlinefridays Can you believe this??

review
BarbaraBB
Bunner Sisters | Edith Wharton
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Pickpick

The Bunner sisters, Ann Eliza and Evelina, keep a small shop. When they become involved with Mr Ramy, both sisters fall a bit in love with him. Ann Eliza decides to sacrifice her own hopes and yearnings for those of her sister. Egocentrical Evelina doesn‘t even notice what Ann Eliza does for her. This is the main theme of this sweet and sad story.

Once again Wharton succeeds in creating a main character that‘ll stay with me.
#1001books

RidgewayGirl I drive a MINI, too! 8y
Tamra 💜 Wharton 8y
batsy I loved this! 8y
See All 7 Comments
DrexEdit Wow! I need to read this one! 8y
BarbaraBB @RidgewayGirl Nice car, no?! Did you bring it from Germany? I think they are quite special in the US or am I wrong? 8y
RidgewayGirl I love it. I like driving something so cute. I‘m convinced other drivers are nicer to me because of my little blue MINI. 8y
BarbaraBB @RidgewayGirl Me too. I think it is a car for cool women 😉💪 8y
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BarbaraBB
The Bunner Sisters | Edith Wharton
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#Riotgrams day 12: #FavoriteLeadingLadies

One of my favourite leading ladies is the author of my current read: Edith Wharton. A century ago she lived life like she wanted, in a way that is quite normal for us, but certainly wasn‘t 100 years ago. Better even, she wrote about it and I consider her books a great gift to her generation and generations afterwards. She was also the first woman to win the Pullitzer Prize in 1921.

Tamra Wharton is one of few authors I will read anything she wrote! 8y
quietlycuriouskate I've never read her! Clearly that's something I need to put right. 8y
BarbaraBB @River_Voice Oh yes you should. She‘s really worth reading. 8y
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LeahBergen Love Wharton. 😍 8y
ValerieAndBooks Love Wharton! But haven‘t read her in years. I have a couple of her books still left to be read, really should pick them up soon! 8y
BarbaraBB @ValerieAndBooks you can read her for the #1001books list! 8y
ValerieAndBooks @BarbaraBB yes, this one and Summer which is in my TBR both in the list 😊 8y
BarbaraBB @ValerieAndBooks Summer will be my next Wharton too! And I still need to read 8y
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KellyHunsakerReads
Bunner Sisters | Edith Wharton
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Edith Wharton writes about the women of her time and does so beautifully.

DivaDiane I haven‘t read this or the previous one. I see you listened to this on LibriVox. Was it good? 8y
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Lcsmcat
Bunner Sisters | Edith Wharton
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jpmcwisemorgan Ha! Perfect. 8y
Linear Hmm, i wish i got the whole picture here. 8y
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