The Husbands of Edith
1908
An American architect on a relaxing Paris vacation gets talked into the most absurd favor of his life: impersonating a complete stranger at a business convention in Vienna. The stranger's wife, Edith, is entirely in on the scheme - and far too charming, too clever, too knowing for anyone's good. What begins as a simple act of friendship spirals into a comedy of errors where identity becomes negotiable, every dinner party threatens to expose the ruse, and Brock discovers that pretending to be someone else's husband is considerably more complicated than it sounds. McCutcheon writes with the light, sure touch of a master of early 20th-century social comedy, skewering the pretensions of the upper classes while delivering pure, escapist entertainment. It's bright, breezy, and utterly unburdened by anything heavier than a good laugh.
