The novel tells the story of Chariti Royal, a young girl with a proud and independent character, who lives in a poor provincial town adopted by a local family. When the young architect Lucius Harvey visits the small town for a scientific study, eighteen-year-old Chariti will fall in love with him and start a passionate relationship with him.

"The Summer", considered by many to be the best work of Edith Wharton, even compared to "Madame Bovary" by Flaubert, was published in 1917 and caused a great sensation, as it was one of the first novels to bring to the forefront the sexual awakening of a young woman.

Breaking the tradition of women's romantic novels, Chariti, a heroine with the characteristics of a modern woman, resists with dignity the pressure of social conventions, completely reconciled with her emotions and sexuality.