{"product_id":"the-reef-everymans-library-classics-contemporary-classics-9780679447245","title":"The Reef Everymans Library Classics  Contemporary","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eEdith Wharton was at the height of her enormous literary  powers when she published \u003ci\u003eThe Reef \u003c\/i\u003ein 1912, and everything about this novel suggests  a mastery so complete that it can achieve nothing higher. The plot, which tells of  the drastic effects of a casual sexual betrayal on the lives of four Americans in  France, is expertly turned, suspenseful, continually compelling. An assured, unhurried  dramatic instinct governs the great moments of confrontation and revelation. The  central characters, two of whom are innocents and two of whom are burdened by experience  and tinged with desperation, are perfectly delineated: their relationships to one  another are constructed with a classical feeling for harmony, proportion, and balance.  And the entire novel is imbued with a clear-eyed wisdom about both the possibilities  and the limitations of human love. Wharton would go on to write splendid books after  completing \u003ci\u003eThe Reef,\u003c\/i\u003e but nowhere does she display a finer command of\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Random House USA Inc","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49526064120151,"sku":"9780679447245","price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780679447245.jpg?v=1731862767","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/the-reef-everymans-library-classics-contemporary-classics-9780679447245","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}