The Fruit of the Tree (Literary Classics) (edition 2004)

There are three main strands to this novel: the question of the need for reform in the cotton mills, the issue of euthanasia and whether or not it is justified "when all the good of life is gone", and a conventional romance plot.

The novel opens in Hanaford Hospital, where a mill worker is receiving treatment for an injury sustained at work. John Amherst, the mill's idealistic assistant manager, learns from temporary nurse Justine Brent that it is likely the man will lose his hand and thus be unable to work. When the mill owner's widow Bessy arrives, Amherst insists on conveying to her the necessity for reforming the mills. She is touched by the plight of Dillon, and vows to do what she can to help him, but from the start the suspicion is that she's more interested in John Amherst than in mill reform.

Although they marry, the differences in their interests and values soon becomes clear. After the death of their young son, the marriage begins to fall apart in earnest. She resents the amount of time and money he spends on the mill. He resents her lack of interest in the mill. Amherst spends more and more time away from the house. Justine, an old friend of Bessy's, tries to act as go-between, asking Amherst to come home. His refusal to do so infuriates Bessy, who suffers a paralysing spinal injury when she falls from her horse.

Justine nurses Bessy, sickened by the attempts of Dr Wyant to prolong Bessy's life even though she is in constant pain, her body a 'torture-house', with no possibility of ever walking again.

There is a kind of inevitability about how the rest of the novel plays out. Wharton teases the reader - will Justine and Amherst be allowed a happy-ever-after ending? At times it seems possible, but the novel ends on a note so sour as to be almost unbearable. Even if one doesn't agree with Justine's actions, it's difficult to condone the pomposity and hypocrisy of Amherst. [May 2006] ( )

I do not know why i love these Wharton books so much....it is something about the overly long sentences that read so naturally that you don't realize how long they are....the way she is able to convey so much in merely the description of one's face...the fascinating world of upper class 'manners' of that period.......and i could go on and on......I'm gonna be disappointed when i have completed all of her books....gonna space the remaining volumes out over time.....i just don't want them to end! ( )

http://www.lonelymountain.net/books/nov08.html#whartontfott ( )

Although not as beautifully rendered as her more well-known works (such as House of Mirth, Age of Innocence, and Custom of the Country), The Fruit of the Tree is still a gripping story, with all of the miscommunication and heartache that one would expect in any novel by Wharton. In this case, the story follows John Amherst, a visionary trying to carry out plans for industrial renewal while building a life for himself with his wife. The story looks at the problem of communicating higher ideals to those whose sole concern is with immediate profit from a more personal level than is usual; the fact that the protagonist is neither the owner of the factory nor a low-level worker is also somewhat unusual and makes for a novel perspective.

Running alongside and among the story of the mills is the story of Amherst's relationships- with society, with his wife, and with his family. Wharton is in her element here, as she draws well-developed characters and then proceeds to let them destroy each other in that way that only people can. Miscommunication, often due to societal constraints, is really the heart of the novel, and Wharton does an excellent job of demonstrating how easy it is to ruin another person simply by not saying that which you mean, or by allowing prejudice and pride impede actions and speech.

As is typical, The Fruit of the Tree does not have a very happy ending, though it is somewhat less tragic than many of Wharton's other novels. Sort of. But not really. ( )