Reading Order
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Start with The Old Maid and continue through all 5 books in the listed reading order.
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Start with The Old Maid
Book 1 by Edith Wharton • Published 1922
Set in mid nineteenth century New York, this novella centers on Charlotte Lovell, who secretly bears a child, and her cousin Delia, who adopts the girl and passes her off as her own. Years of shared deception bind and...
Complete List
Old New York reading order
Ends with Old New York
- 1
Book 1:The Old Maid
Edith Wharton • 1922
Set in mid nineteenth century New York, this novella centers on Charlotte Lovell, who secretly bears a child, and her cousin Delia, who adopts the girl and passes her off as her own. Years of shared deception bind and...
- 2
Book 2:The Spark
Edith Wharton • 1924
One of the *Old New York* novellas, this story traces how a seemingly ordinary young man is quietly transformed by a brief encounter with poet Walt Whitman during the Civil War. Years later, that memory gives him the...
- 3
Book 3:New Year's Day
Edith Wharton • 1924
Told in retrospect, this *Old New York* novella revisits a long whispered scandal involving a married woman seen fleeing a hotel fire with another man. As an older observer learns more, the story becomes a meditation...
- 4
Book 4:False Dawn
Edith Wharton • 1924
In the 1840s, eager young Lewis Raycie is sent to Europe to buy fashionable paintings that will secure his father’s legacy. Guided instead by new ideas about art, he returns with unknown works that scandalize his fami...
- 5
Book 5:Old New York
Edith Wharton • 1924
This book collects the four Old New York novellas, each set in a different nineteenth century decade. Together they chart shifting codes of art, love, and respectability in the same close knit circle that later appear...
Quick Answers
Old New York FAQ
What is the best order to read the Old New York series?
The recommended reading order is the numbered order shown on this page, starting with The Old Maid.
How many books are in the Old New York series?
There are 5 books currently listed in the Old New York series on GurusReads.
Where should I start with the Old New York series?
New readers should start with The Old Maid, the first book in the reading order.
Is the Old New York series complete?
Based on the publication years we have, the series appears likely complete and spans releases from 1922 to 1924.