3 h 3 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 3 h 3 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the letters that could secure your future also held the secret you could never escape?
Stephen Glennard wants to marry Alexa Trent, but his income as a New York lawyer stands in the way. He holds something valuable: letters from Margaret Aubyn, a famous novelist, now dead, who loved him more than he loved her. Making them public offers a way past his money troubles.
In The Touchstone, Edith Wharton brings that private choice into a world ruled by money, manners, and reputation. Glennard hopes to keep his part in the letters secret. But Alexa admires Aubyn’s writing, and the woman he loves cannot be kept apart from the memory he wants to escape.
What you’ll discover
- A secret with weight Follow a man whose hidden choice threatens his ability to enjoy what he wants.
- Love entangled with money See how the wish to marry becomes bound up with another woman’s private words.
- A presence that remains Meet Margaret Aubyn through the devotion and letters that keep her memory alive.
- Conscience behind closed doors Enter a quiet drawing room drama where an unseen wrong carries its own force.
- Wharton’s precise early fiction Discover a short, tightly built novel that traces how one act shapes a life.
Who will love it
For readers who love precise novels about conscience, marriage and money, and anyone curious about Wharton before her later fame.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A poor man with a rich secret
- The letters left behind
- A choice made for love and money
- Marriage with a ghost in the house
- What guilt does to a man and a marriage
- How Wharton tells it
Who’s who
- Stephen GlennardA New York lawyer with little money who wants to marry Alexa and holds a secret that begins to weigh on him.
- Alexa TrentThe young woman Glennard loves and marries, sincere and sympathetic, who is moved by the writings of the dead novelist.
- Margaret AubynA gifted novelist, now dead, who loved Glennard and whose letters to him become the center of the story.
- Mrs. ArmigerA member of the social circle who admires Margaret Aubyn and helps keep her memory present in conversation.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 3 h 3 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 7 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear La pietra di paragone in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
La pietra di paragone
by Edith Wharton · 1900
Stephen Glennard holds a dead writer's love letters, and his choice puts his conscience and marriage at stake.
Medium level2–5 hours to read25 languages
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
In short
The Touchstone is a short novel by Edith Wharton, published in 1900. It is set in New York among people who care about money, manners and reputation.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A poor man with a rich secret
Stephen Glennard is a New York lawyer of modest means. He is educated and well liked, but his income is thin, and in the world he moves in, thin means limited. He loves Alexa Trent, a young woman of good character, and he wants to marry her. Money is the wall between them.
Wharton sets up this pressure with care. Glennard is not shown as a villain or a schemer at the start. He is an ordinary man with ordinary wishes who feels that life has put a price on happiness he cannot pay. The reader is meant to understand him before judging him.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about La pietra di paragone
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is The Touchstone by Edith Wharton about?
It is about a New York lawyer, Stephen Glennard, who uses the letters of a dead woman novelist who loved him to solve his money problems. The book follows the effect of that choice on his conscience and his marriage.
When was The Touchstone written?
Edith Wharton published The Touchstone in 1900. It is an early work of hers, written before her best-known novels, and it is a short novel rather than a long one, set in her own New York world.
What does the title The Touchstone mean?
A touchstone is a hard stone used to test the purity of gold by the mark it leaves. In the book the letters and the guilt they bring test the character of the people involved.
The author
Edith Wharton
1862–1937 · American novelist
Edith Wharton (1862–1937) was an American writer and designer born in New York City. She later lived in France, where she died. Her books include The House of Mirth (1905), Ethan Frome (1911), and The Age of Innocence (1920). She co-wrote The Decoration of Houses with Ogden Codman Jr. in 1897.
More by Edith Wharton
All 10 booksMore like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
