A bestseller when it was originally published nearly a century ago, Wharton's first literary success was set amid the previously unexplored territory of fashionable, turn-of-the-century New York society, an area with which she was intimately familiar. The tragic love story reveals the destructive effects of wealth and social hypocrisy on Lily Bart, a ravishing beauty. Impoverished but well-born, Lily realizes a secure future depends on her acquiring a wealthy husband. Her downfall begins with a romantic indiscretion, intensifies with an accumulation of gambling debts, and climaxes in a maelstrom of social disasters. More a tale of social exclusion than of failed love, The House of Mirth reveals Wharton's compelling gifts as a storyteller and her clear-eyed observations of the savagery beneath the well-bred surface of high society. As with The Age of Innocence and Ethan Frome, this novel was also made into a successful motion picture.
The House of Mirth (Dover Thrift Editions: Classic Novels)
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Author: Edith Wharton
Binding: Paperback
ISBN: 800759420490
Details:
Author: Edith Wharton
Brand: Dover Publications
Features:
- Used Book in Good Condition
Binding: Paperback
Number Of Pages: 272
Release Date: 06-08-2002
Part Number: 9780486420493
Package Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches Languages: English
EAN: 9780486420493
