Indian Summer - When you think of chroniclers of love, life and American society during the Gilded Age, you automatically think of Henry James and Edith Wharton. But while W.D. Howells never quite reached their levels of prominence, his similar works are full of quiet introspection and evocative, vivid prose reminiscent of Wharton at her best. A lush, colorful exploration of 19th-century Florence, and a love triangle of Americans who are taking a prolonged vacation there. Middle-aged Theodore Colville falls in love with young and pretty Imogene Graham. The relationship borders on the ridiculous, but it's only when Imogene falls for a younger man that Colville calls it all off. One wonders what took him so long. The dialogue, especially when Colville is involved, crackles with wit. This is Howells's own favorite of his novels. It is extremely entertaining, one of Howells's very best books, and one of the best novels on the American bookshelf, regardless of time period.