The House of Mirth

Edith Wharton's 'The House of Mirth' focuses on the beautiful socialite Lily Barton, who is in her late twenties and, after ten years on the 'marriage market', is still looking for a suitably rich husband. Brought up to be purely decorative, Lily seemingly leads a life of luxury and pleasure, but we soon learn that she actually has only a very small income and lives on the charity of a rich aunt who is becoming increasingly disapproving of Lily's gadabout life. Worried about her gambling debts and desperately trying to keep up with the rich set, Lily sets her sights on the very wealthy, if boring Percy Grace, but her plans to snare Mr Gryce are ruined when she becomes attracted to the dark and handsome Lawrence Selden. Mr Selden, however, despite finding Lily breathtakingly beautiful, is a man of only modest means and being aware of Lily's ambitions to marry well, he tries to avoid taking her too seriously. As Lily and Selden circle around each other, both attracted to one another but neither of them willing to commit themselves, Lily becomes desperately worried about her increasing debts and she foolishly approaches the husband of one of her friends to help her to invest her small amount of capital. When it becomes apparent to Lily that the money she has been receiving is not from the dividends on her own money, Lily finds herself embroiled in a whole series of events that eventually lead to her fall from grace, but to reveal more would spoil the story for those who have yet to read it.Beautifully written and perceptively observed, Edith Wharton's story of New York society and the lives of the rich and idle, juxtaposed with the lot of the much less wealthy and those who fall by the wayside, makes for a compelling read. Aside from the story's main protagonists, this novel is filled with a whole cast of interesting characters and is it easy to become drawn right into Lily Barton's life and watch her as she travels towards her downfall. Although, as bystanders, we can see the mistakes Lily is making and we may become exasperated with her for her foolhardiness, Lily is not as shallow as she initially seems, she does have scruples and she avoids taking others down with her, and the reader (or this one anyhow) feels for her in her predicament. First published in 1905 and one of Edith Wharton's best novels, this is a poignant and resonant story and one to read, to think about and to then put back in the bookcase to read again later. Recommended.5 Stars.

When I had read the first few chapters of this book I seriously considered abandoning it. However, I persevered and am so glad I did as this novel ended up having a big impact on me. I hadn't read any Edith Wharton before and I think this is a good one to start with. I loved the ins-and-outs of the relationships between the characters and imagine not much in society has changed throughout the years, apart from dress and modes of transport! The ending was a genuine shock and not the 'happy ever after' that's the norm. I think that's good sometimes though, as real life isn't a bed of roses, so why should fictional life be? I managed to snag a copy of 'The Age of Innocence' in a charity shop so look forward to reading that too.

I am someone who read all of Austen and was left at a loss when I finished all her novels. I wish someone had told me about the genius of Edith Wharton earlier. Without being disloyal to Austen, Wharton's novels are much more complex and examine more critically the society in which they are set.As with the age of innocence, the novel has as its main character a New Yorker. She is the 29 year old Lily Bart, a single woman on the high society marriage market. How is it that a woman as beautiful and knowledgeable about how to keep a man interested as Lily not yet married? She is self-aware and knows that in order to be be happy, she has to marry rich. To her credit, and some might call it a flaw, she can see that marrying rich would mean not marrying an interesting and intelligent equal like Seldon. The novel explores this conflict in her mind and her clutch on morality and dignity and keeping her love pure when it would be so easy to compromise all and give into temptation, becoming what society imagines and thinks of her.It would be so easy to dislike Lily - she is beautiful and has the ability to make men fall at her feet and pities dingy working people. But you can't help but admire her and want her to succeed in the highly judgmental, hypocritical and male dominated society in which she is stuck.The best aspect of this novel is that you are genuinely not sure how things will end. Brilliant.

The book has no publisher details (so you cannot reference with it) and is an A4 size so quite impractical to read or carry around with you (while this is put in the details of the site, I did not check this as it is unusual to have a book of this size). It looks like somebody has just used their own home printer, so not very practical for a student.

A long novel but one it is hard to put down... Wonderful; to be re-read.Arrived on time and in beautiful condition. Thank you.