TY - GEN AU - Wharton,Edith TI - The house of mirth T2 - Everyman’s library SN - 1857150465 U1 - 823.008 21 PY - 1991/// CY - London PB - David Campbell KW - Single women KW - Fiction KW - New York (N.Y.) KW - 19th century KW - 20th century KW - Social life and customs N1 - This is a Borzoi Book -- T.p. verso; Bibliography: pxxxi-xxxiii N2 - n this book, the author depicts the glittering salons of Gilded Age New York with precision and wit, even as she movingly portrays the obstacles that impeded women’s choices at the turn of the century. The beautiful, much-desired Lily Bart has been raised to be one of the perfect wives of the upper class, but her spark of character and independent drive prevent her from becoming one of the many women who succeed in those circumstances. Though her desire for a more comfortable life means that she cannot marry for love, her resistance to the rules of the social elite endangers her many marriage proposals. As Lily spirals down into debt and dishonor, her story takes on the resonance of classic tragedy. One of Wharton’s most bracing and nuanced portraits of the life of women in a hostile, highly ordered world, this book exposes the truths about American high society that its denizens most wish to deny. -- from Book Jacket ER -