In a world where divorce is so commonplace, it is interesting to read this tale of the third husband in a world where divorce is the exception rather than the rule. ( )

This two-tape audio collection contains three short stories by Edith Wharton. All explore the marital state in upper class society, and do so with gentle humor, light comedy, and pathos.

The Other Two tells of a man who is put into the awkward position of entertaining both of his wife's ex-husbands. In Autres Temps, (French for "other times", i.e. "other customs"), a divorced woman of middle age continues to experience the disapproval of a society that has long forgotten whatever it was that she had done to deserve it. In The Dilettante, a young man runs into trouble in courtship for not having a "past" that might be judged.

These three stories are subtle and require full attention of the listener. Fortunately, the female narrator reads them aloud with due slowness and sensitivity to their content. I found myself needing a printed version to fully appreciate them. All three of these works can be read online here
http://www.online-literature.com/wharton/
and also are posted at the Edith Wharton Society website: http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/wharton/shortstories.htm ( )