As nuanced in her observations of human behavior as she is in her vivid
depictions of French landscape and architecture, Wharton fully exploited
her unique position as consort to Walter Barry, president of the
American Chamber of Commerce in Paris, which allowed her unparalleled
access to life in the trenches. Sensitive without sentimentality, and
offering a valuable and extremely rare female perspective of a war
dominated by the male viewpoint, this series of articlesis nothing less
than an inspirational testament to the strength of the human spirit at a
time of the greatest adversity.
"