The Front of What?

We are often inclined to think about “the front” as being a place of preference. The front of the line is good if one is seeking to get tickets to an event. Front seating is better than seating on the wings. Front is good for in-person voting rather than at the tail end of the line. Front of the class implies success academically. But a weather front means usually that foul conditions are on the way. Just so, the front of battle in time of war is a very dangerous place to be. A brutal place it can be, and was during World War I. A place of muddy trenches and agonizing deaths. That frames the central thread that runs through Edith Wharton’s “A Son at the Front” (1922). Its time is World War I. Its place is mostly in Paris behind the front lines of trench warfare brought on by Ge…