Review of The Children by Edith Wharton

I have never read any books from the author Edith Wharton. It appears that perhaps The Children by Edith Wharton isn't one of her most famous books. The book takes place after WWI. The main character in the book is Martin Boyne who is in his 40's. One day while on a trip by boat he happens to meet a variety of seven children; some are full siblings, some half-siblings while the others are step-siblings or no relation at all. Turns out the eldest teenager of the group is Judith who is 15 almost 16. He happens to know both of her parents before the arrival of any children. Judith's parents had gotten divorced, remarried and then married each other again. Sound complicated? It is, and keeping track of who all the children belonged to was as well. Judith and all of children want to stay together, and Martin wants them to be able to stay together as well. The parents either seem neglectful, selfish or see their children as perhaps a bargaining chip against an ex-spouse. Martin sees Judith as sometimes as a child, while other times as a grown woman. Considering the time of the book, Martin brings up several times what will become of the children, since Judith is probably thinking of marriage soon in the near future. I never really got the impression that Martin was in love with anyone. To me he either seemed to be rather nostalgic of what could have been or about the past, and he seemed to want to be protective and care about people but the way he goes about it comes out wrong. This book was a easy read, although at times I was mad at certain characters, and had mixed emotions sometimes about the people. The first 100 pages it doesn't have a lot of dialogue which does take some getting used too. I do plan on reading more books from Edith Wharton. Although, this book isn't one that I will re-read over and over again, it did keep me guessing as to what would happen in some parts. I rate this book 3 out of 5.