Book #12 |
Book: The House of Mirth | Author: Edith Wharton | |
| Source: Library loan Format: E-book |
Pages: 406 | Duration: 02/22/26 – 02/28/26 (7 days) | |
| Rating: ★★★☆☆ | Genres: historical fiction, classics, literature, class, New York | ||
| 📕10-word summary: New York socialite’s serial inconsequential decisions about love compound tragically. 🖌6-word review: Heavy. Beautifully — if not challengingly — written. |
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| 💭A favorite quote: “But we’re so different, you know: she likes being good, and I like being happy.” | |||
| 🎓Some new-to-me words: crepe-de-chine, empyrean, chary, desultory, bezique, sylvan, odious, oubliettes, dissembling, Quirinal, adjuration, mauvaise honte, parterres, marquetry, puerile, propinquity, infelicity, lustral, cuirassed, ormolu, effulgence, proscenium, sward, stereopticon, phaetons, stertorous, impenitent, adumbrations, excrescences, aigrettes, orangeine, c-spring barouche, victoria, antimacassar | |||
| Description:* Edith Wharton’s dark view of society, the somber economics of marriage, and the powerlessness of the unwedded woman in the 1870s emerge dramatically in the tragic novel The House of Mirth. Faced with an array of wealthy suitors, New York socialite Lily Bart falls in love with lawyer Lawrence Selden, whose lack of money spoils their chances for happiness together. Dubious business deals and accusations of liaisons with a married man diminish Lily’s social status, and as she makes one bad choice after another, she learns how venal and brutally unforgiving the upper crust of New York can be.*From goodreads.com’s synopsis. | |||
| Thoughts: This is my third Edith Wharton book in as many years, two of them as Mostly Social Book Club books (including this one), and my order of preference is: 1) Ethan Frome, 2) The Age of Innocence, and now this one 3) The House of Mirth. One of the things I like about these classics is the way things are said, but only up to the point at which they become hard to parse. Jane Eyre and The Age of Innocence were easy, but this one was on the verge of being slightly esoteric. Example: “She had even risen earlier than usual in the execution of her purpose.” (Translation: She got up early to get shit done.) I absolutely loved the ending of this book, which is all you really need to know about the kind of endings to books that I like. 😂 | |||
See the rest of the books I’ve read in 2026 and previous years: 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019.
