Overview

Published in 1922—just a year after Edith Wharton became the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for The Age of Innocence—The Glimpses of the Moon stands as one of her most intriguing, if frequently overlooked, social satires. I’m an Edith Wharton fan and it was even unknown to me. Written during a period of post-World War I disillusionment, the novel explores the precarious existence of “parasitic” socialites who move within high-society circles without the wealth necessary to sustain such a lifestyle independently. What we call couch-surfing in modern parlance, or like OJ Simpson’s pool guy that was famous for 15 minutes back in the 90s.

Unlike Wharton’s iconic tragedies of societal entrapment, such as The House of Mirth or Ethan Frome, The Glimpses of the Moon veers into lightness, romantic comedy, and moral melodrama, ultimately offering a surprisingly optimistic resolution, so surprising it raised my eyebrows.

Plot Summary and Premise

The narrative centers on Nick Lansing and Susy Branch, two attractive, highly cultured, but penniless Americans living as social hangers-on among the ultra-wealthy in Jazz Age Europe. Realizing their financial limitations, they hatch a cynical plan:

• The Pact: They will marry and live off the hospitality of their wealthy friends for a year—staying gratis in luxurious villas, using cash wedding gifts for tip money, and enjoying a “honeymoon” on a borrowed dime.
• The Escape Clause: Should either party receive a financially superior marriage proposal from a wealthy suitor, the other agrees to grant a swift, ungrudgeful divorce. I found this handy graphic online from a literature criticism website and I love it so much I’ll post it here. If I had this when I was halfway through and completely at sea as to who was whom and with whom.

       [ Nick Lansing ] <====== Married (The Pact) ======> [ Susy Branch ]
       (Penniless Writer)                                 (Social Strategist)
               |                                                  |
     Courted by / Tempted by                            Courted by / Tempted by
               v                                                  v
        [ Coral Hicks ]                                  [ Lord Altringham ]
     (Plain, Honest Heiress)                            (Ultra-Wealthy Aristocrat)

The arrangement unravels in Venice when Nick discovers that Susy secured their accommodations by covering up an extramarital affair for their host, Ellie Vanderlyn. Disgusted by the moral compromise—despite his own complicity in their parasitic lifestyle—Nick abandons Susy. What I call a hypocritical fool, but that’s me.

As the two separate, both are courted by viable alternative partners: Nick by the pragmatic, intellectually minded heiress Coral Hicks, and Susy by the newly titled, unimaginably rich Lord Altringham (“Streffy”). However, as both characters undergo a moral awakening away from high-society frivolousness, they realize their emotional bond outweighs material comfort. Or that’s the story. If either had to actually live a single day of working class life they’d be swimming out to the yachts and skiing down to the St Moritz villas before the day was done.

Character Analysis

Character	Social Status	Key Traits & Motivations	Character Arc
Susy Branch	Dependent Socialite	Resourceful, calculating, charming	Evolves from a master manipulator of social favors to finding that she’s not really good at either working or sponging.
Nick Lansing	Aspiring Writer	Idealistic, proud, hypocritical, small penis.	Struggles with his own double standards regarding social compromise before accepting financial modesty to pursue artistic integrity. Meaning he’s kind of courting Coral Hicks and living on their fucking yacht. Shipboard accident would have been my choice for this prick.
Strefford (“Streffy”)	Cynical Aristocrat	Indolent, opportunistic, loyal in his way, like a non-running pal in Chariots of Fire.	Represents the hollow nature of the inherited wealth class; becomes the Earl of Altringham, offering Susy ultimate luxury.
Coral Hicks	Nouveau Riche Heiress	Young (22) and earnest, plain, intellectually curious, rich as Croesus.	Contrasts with the superficial elite; offers Nick financial security without social pretense. But…good old Nick the Prick has a strict no-fatties policy.

Major Themes

• The Transactional Nature of High Society: Wharton scrutinizes a world where human relationships are treated as assets. Susy and Nick’s initial arrangement mimics a business merger rather than a romance, reflecting a culture where affection is systematically commodified. In my opinion this is loosely based on Wharton’s own marriage which was like a business merger itself.
• Hypocrisy and Class Complicity: A central focus of the novel is Nick’s selective morality. While he enjoys the benefits of borrowed luxury, he judges Susy harshly for the distasteful maneuvers required to secure those benefits, highlighting the gendered burden of maintaining social status. Nick the Prick is one rule for men and one for the plote-du-jour.
• Authenticity vs. Parasitism: The narrative contrasts the empty, restless luxury of international jet-setters with the grounded fulfillment found in useful labor and genuine affection, exemplified late in the novel through Susy’s interaction with the struggling, artistically sincere Fulmer family. Here again we see Wharton through the veil, she often wrote like she really understood the working class. When in reality when she went abroad she would rent two houses, one for her and one for all her servants. Then she would send the servants ahead of her to set up the houses for her arrival.

Critical Reception and Legacy

Upon publication in 1922, The Glimpses of the Moon was a commercial blockbuster, topping bestseller lists and quickly earning a silent film adaptation in 1923 (with dialogue intertitles drafted by F. Scott Fitzgerald). Once again, why had I never heard of this?

Despite its initial popularity, critical consensus on the novel remains mixed:

Literary Context: Published in the same year as T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land and James Joyce’s Ulysses, Wharton’s narrative was viewed by contemporary modernists as somewhat traditional in structure, which is jazz age speak for old fashioned. However, scholars like Helen Killoran argue that its portrait of disillusioned, itinerant wealthy Americans significantly influenced Fitzgerald’s framing of The Great Gatsby (1925). Yeah, I can see that.

• Strengths: Wharton’s signature wit, razor-sharp dialogue, and incisive observation of upper-class manners are on full display. The early chapters detailing the logistics of “parasitic honeymooning” offer a brilliant satirical lens on class mobility. “We can save money by taking the train and then stay in the villa while the Melroses are sailing…” like that.
• Weaknesses: Critics point out that “The novel’s sentimental ending feels slightly contrived compared to the bleak realism of The House of Mirth. Susy’s sudden pivot to domestic contentment can feel abrupt given her sharp-edged survival instincts throughout the first two-thirds of the book.” And the critics can say that again. The novel is divided into three parts, the last part has only four chapters compared to the ten plus in both previous parts. It read to me like Wharton was trying to meet a deadline or her editor told her to wrap it up and send it to the printers. Haste didn’t make actual waste here but it was like finishing at work so you can make the bus: work is done, tied up the loose ends, but you’re not giving it your best.

Conclusion

I enjoyed this, but I’m glad it’s done. The Glimpses of the Moon is a lighthearted, comedic sibling to Wharton’s darker masterpieces. While it may lack the devastating emotional gravity of say, The Age of Innocence, it provides a charming, witty, and humorous look into post-WWI expatriate life, offering a welcome morality tale about the cost of living on borrowed wealth.