American author Edith Wharton, renowned for her insightful novels of manners set in old New York, spent a significant part of her life in France. During World War I, she resided in Paris and dedicated herself to humanitarian efforts for refugees. Her poignant 1918 novella, The Marne, tells the story through the eyes of 15-year-old Troy Belknap, an American boy yearning to enlist and defend the beloved land of France amidst the chaos of war. (Summary by Elizabeth Klett)