Thanks to all your questions, I will now need to read some of Edith Wharton's work. Having read about her and her work I would say a number of things made her work pioneering. First, she was a woman of means and did not need to earn a living. She wrote in a variety of genres, non-fiction, fiction about high society, travel guides, poetry and short stories.

She lived in Europe during World War I and visited the front lines and wrote reports back to the United States to help get their continued support.

When she wrote travel guides, she wrote them about art and culture when that was not the style of the time.
Source(s):
http://www.npg.si.edu/exh/wharton/whar3.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Wharton

Asker's Rating:

Permalink | Report