This is the story of Charity Royall, a child of mountain moonshiners adopted into a family from a poor New England town. Charity has a passionate love affair with Lucius Harney, a young, educated man from the city. Edith Wharton"s Summer deals frankly -- honestly -- with the sexual awakening of a young woman. Not surprisingly, when the book was first published (in 1917), that stirred a commotion. Deservedly so! Wharton had a very real gift; it"s for good cause she"s so well-remembered.