Bunner Sisters

"Bunner Sisters" by Edith Wharton is a novel written during the early 20th century. The story centers on the lives of two sisters, Ann Eliza and Evelina Bunner, who run a small, humble shop in New York City. Despite the modesty of their reality, the sisters cling to dreams and desires that often remain unfulfilled as they navigate their love lives, ambitions, and the societal expectations of their time. The opening of the novel introduces readers to the Bunner Sisters and their quaint yet deteriorating neighborhood in New York. As the sisters prepare for Evelina's birthday celebration, the mundane aspects of their lives come to light, revealing their limited financial means and their contentment with their simple existence. Ann Eliza's poignant interactions with Evelina reflect the tension between their reliance on one another and their individual longings. The narrative suggests a transformative presence in the form of Mr. Herman Ramy, whose connection with the sisters will likely complicate their lives further, hinting at themes of love, sacrifice, and the stark realities of their social status. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Edith Newbold Wharton was an American writer and designer. Wharton drew upon her insider's knowledge of the upper-class New York "aristocracy" to portray, realistically, the lives and morals of the Gilded Age. In 1921, she became the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, for her novel, The Age of Innocence. She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame, in 1996. Her other well-known works are The House of Mirth, the novella Ethan Frome, and several notable ghost stories.