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The Custom of the Country

By Edith Wharton
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton follows the ambitious and socially climbing Undine Spragg, a young woman from the Midwest who seeks wealth and status in New York City. The novel delves into themes of marriage, societal expectations, and personal ambition as Undine navigates complex relationships and societal norms to achieve her desires. Through her journey, Wharton offers a sharp critique of early 20th-century American society.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$4500

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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This novel may appeal to you if you enjoy stories about social ambition and upward mobility, set against the backdrop of early 20th-century New York and Paris. With its focus on a compellingly flawed protagonist and sharp observation of societal norms, it provides an engaging exploration of desire, power, and cultural clashes.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

Presents a tale about a beautiful social climber, Undine Sprague, who is a monster of selfishness and honestly doesn't know it. 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.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

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 decor 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 behaviour that is both supremely informed and supremely disenchanted.

The Custom of the Country features a new introduction and explanatory notes and reset text.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton is widely regarded as a brilliant critique of American society and explores themes of ambition and social mobility through the character of Undine Spragg. Elizabeth Hardwick praises it as Wharton's finest achievement, highlighting its enduring relevance and sophisticated narrative.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780143039709

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 28 September 2006

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Penguin Classics

Contributors:

  • Introduction by Anita Brookner

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 26.0mm

Width: 130.0mm

Height: 192.0mm

Weight: 320g

Pages: 352

Collections

Edith Wharton Fiction General Fiction Literary Fiction Penguin Books Penguin Classics

About the Author

Edith Wharton was born Edith Newbold Jones on January 24, 1862, during the American Civil War. Wharton published her first short story in 1891; her first story collection, The Greater Inclination, in 1899; a novella called The Touchstone in 1900; and her first novel, a historical romance called The Valley of Decision, in 1902. The book that made Wharton famous was The House of Mirth, published in 1905. She died in 1937. 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.

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