Synopses & Reviews
Considered by many to be her masterpiece, Edith Wharton's second full-length work is a scathing yet personal examination of the exploits and follies of the modern upper class. As she unfolds the story of Undine Spragg, from New York to Europe, Wharton affords us a detailed glimpse of what might be called the interior décor of this America and its nouveau riche fringes. Through a heroine who is as vain, spoiled, and selfish as she is irresistibly fascinating, and through a most intricate and satisfying plot that follows Undine's marriages and affairs, she conveys a vision of social behavior that is both supremely informed and supremely disenchanted.
- This new edition features a new introduction and explanatory notes and reset text
Synopsis
Edith Wharton's novels of manners seem to grow in stature as time passes. Here she draws a beautiful social climber, Undine Sprague, who is a monster of selfishness and honestly doesn't know it. Although the worlds she wants to conquer have vanished, Undine herself is amazingly recognizable. She marries well above herself twice and both times fails to recognize her husbands' strengths of character or the weakness of her own, and it is they, not she, who pay the price.
Synopsis
As long as men and women seek to use each otherand to use each other badlyEdith Wharton can be counted upon to provide the ideal commentary.
Anita Brookner
About the Author
Edith Wharton (18621937) published poetry and short stories in magazines and in volume form before her novel
The House of Mirth became a bestseller and established her as a writer of both distinction and popular appeal. Her other novels include Ethan Frome and
The Age of Innocence, winner of the Pulitzer Prize.
Linda Wagner-Martin is Frank Borden Hanes Professor of English at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the editor of The Portable Edith Wharton.