The glittering structure of her cultivation sits on her novels like a rather showy icing that detracts from the cake beneath.
Source: On Edith Wharton, Pioneers & Caretakers: A Study of 9 American Women Novelists, University of Minnesota, 1965.
-- Louis Auchincloss, (Sep 27 1917-2010), US novelist; He wrote over 30 books including The Indifferent Children, 1947.