The Valley of Decision (Barnes & Noble Digital Library)

Edith Wharton’s first novel chronicles the rise to power of Odo Valsecca, a young man who inherits a dukedom during the tumult of the French Revolution. Forced to choose between his liberal views and his family’s feudal tradition, his future is even more complicated by his love for his sweetheart Fulvia, a kidnapping, and a daring escape by sea.