It’s the birthday of Edith Wharton, who in 1921 became the first woman to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel (as the Fiction award was then called). This was controversial, but not because Wharton was a woman. The jury had actually recommended Sinclair Lewis’ Main Street for the award, and the Pulitzer board overturned the decision, evidently feeling that Wharton’s The Age of Innocence was more wholesome—thus missing the point of the novel, which was intended to be critical of the restrictive society it portrayed. Lewis was angry at having lost (but congratulated Wharton anyway), and Wharton despaired that her novel had been chosen because it was misunderstood while Lewis’ had been denied because it offended. So, nobody’s happy. And get this: Lewis *was* awarded the Pulitzer in 1926 for his novel Arrowsmith, and he not only turned it down (the first person to do so), but wrote the Pulitzer Prize Committee a rejection letter, thus living out the wildest fantasies of rejected writers everywhere. The Pulitzer folks basically said “Nyah” to Lewis—okay, nicer than that—and have always considered Arrowsmith to be the 1926 winner anyway. (Read about it here.)

Wharton, who began life as Edith Newbold Jones, was born in 1862 into a wealthy New York family that was part of the upper-class society she would later expose in her fiction. She had a privileged education both at home and abroad, but by 23 was still unmarried and hence practically a withered old maid. That year she married Edward Robbins Wharton, a socially correct choice 12 years her senior, and they embarked on a long and miserable marriage (huzzah). Edward suffered from serious depression and became less and less stable; they finally divorced in 1913. (All this was inspiration for her novels, which explored themes of marriage, divorce, and oppressive social conventions. So, silver lining.)

Wharton had already published several novels by then, including The House of Mirth (1905), and in fact had written several works of nonfiction, including The Decoration of Houses (1897), co-written with architect Ogden Codman and considered rather an important work. At the start of World War I, Wharton, newly divorced and already living in Paris, stayed in Paris and poured her energies into charity work, receiving the French Legion of Honor in 1916. (How many Legion of Honor recipients have also received the Pulitzer? Discuss.)

Wharton published more than fifty books of fiction, nonfiction, travel writing, and short stories, though some of her later stuff slipped in quality, and lived in France permanently after her divorce until her death in 1937. (She stayed in France after her death as well, specifically in the Cimetiere des Gonards in Versailles.) Oh: and she and Henry James were warm close personal friends, BFFs really, which is impressive because, *Henry James*.

On an entirely different note: Ursula K. Le Guin, science fiction/fantasy giant whose books sold in the millions, died two days ago at the age of 88. Watch this space for more info on her on Oct. 21st.

Have a good Wednesday and stay scrupulously honest to the data.