Edith Wharton`s three New York novels are central to her reputation as a major woman novelist. The novels deal with the transitional period in which all values are questioned, and share as a continuing theme the question of how women and men should relate. Beginning with Wharton`s own comments on the novels, this text moves on to the contemporary responses of Henry James and challenging reviews such as Katherine Mansfield`s, before turning to critical writing from later perspectives.