House of Mirth

edith wharton

House of Mirth is the story of Lily Bart, who seeks the acceptance of society women but doesn't have the money to really gain their approval. The novel is not so much the study of high society as it is a an examination of society's debasement of people and moral values. On the surface, Lily seems doomed because of her moral indiscretions, but the real reason is her lack of money. She remains a part of society as long as she has a chance of inheriting her aunt's fortune; when the money doesn't materialize, she is dropped. This scathing novel of manners was one of the first to emerge in American literature. Newly designed and typeset in a modern 6-by-9-inch format by Waking Lion Press.

Genres classicsfictionhistorical fictionliteraturebook clubamericannovelsnew york20th centuryaudiobook

322 pages, Paperback

First published October 14,1905

Places

new york city new york, new york (state),

This edition

Format: 322 pages, Paperback
Published: July 6, 2006 by Waking Lion Press
ISBN: 9781600962202
ASIN: 1600962203
Language: English

Characters More characters

About the author

edith wharton

Edith Wharton was an American writer and designer. Wharton drew upon her insider's knowledge of the upper-class New York "aristocracy" to portray, realistically, the lives and morals of the Gilded Age. In 1921, she became the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, for her novel, The Age of Innocence. She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame, in 1996. Her other well-known works are The House of Mirth, the novella Ethan Frome, and several notable ghost stories.