Summary
Sometimes even the classics need a little updating…
Set among the elegant brownstones of New York City and opulent country houses, The House of Mirth was Edith Wharton’s first great novel, a satiric portrayal of “a society of irresponsible pleasure-seekers” with a precision comparable to that of Proust.
The brilliant and complex characterization of the doomed Lily Bart, whose stunning beauty and dependence on marriage for economic survival reduce her to a decorative o…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780553213201 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 0553213202 |
| Author: | Edith Wharton |
| Publisher: | Random House USA Inc |
| Imprint: | Bantam Classics |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 464 |
| Release Date: | 15 May 2008 |
| Weight: | 261g |
| Dimensions: | 25mm x 105mm x 171mm |
| Series: | Bantam Classics |
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Critics Review
With an introduction by Elizabeth Hardwick, Contemporary Reviews, and Letters Between Edith Wharton and Her Publisher “
“A tragedy of our modern life, in which the relentlessness of what men used to call Fate and esteem, in their ignorance, a power beyond their control, is as vividly set forth as ever it was by Aeschylus or Shakespeare.“—The New York Times
Edith Wharton
Edith Wharton was born into the upper stratum of New York society in 1862. Though this privileged background provided her with ample material for her novels, it did not foster her artistic development. Educated by tutors and governesses, her upbringing was geared towards a single outcome: marriage. Her own marriage in 1885 to Edward Wharton proved to be an emotional disappointment, if not a complete disaster.
In 1894, she experienced the first of several nervous breakdowns. Despite the strain of her marriage, or perhaps because of it, Wharton began to write fiction, publishing her first story in 1889. Her initial published work was a guide to interior decorating, but this was soon followed by novels and story collections. These works were created during periods when the Whartons resided in Newport and New York, traveled in Europe, and constructed their grand home, The Mount, in Lenox, Massachusetts.
In Europe, she met Henry James, who became a close friend, travel companion, and the most discerning critic of her writing. Her novel The House of Mirth (1905) achieved both critical acclaim and bestseller status, as did Ethan Frome (1911).
The Whartons divorced in 1913, and Edith took up permanent residence in France. However, her literary focus remained on America, particularly the wealthy New York society of her youth. Her highly satirical novel, The Custom of the Country, was published in 1913, and The Age of Innocence earned her the Pulitzer Prize in 1921.
In her later years, Wharton garnered the admiration of a new generation of writers, including Sinclair Lewis and F. Scott Fitzgerald. In total, she authored approximately thirty books, including her autobiography, A Backwards Glance (1934). She passed away at her villa near Paris in 1937.
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