THE CUSTOM OF THE COUNTRY
by Wharton, Edith
- Used
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Yarmouth, Maine, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
First Edition of Edith Wharton's ninth novel, about the rural Midwestern divorcée Undine Spragg first in New York City and then in Paris -- written just after the author had finalized her divorce and moved permanently to France. ...Still considered an indecent topic for literature at that time, Wharton explores with satire and wisdom divorce as a distinctly American custom... Near the end of the novel, matrons of French society (of the famous Faubourg-Saint-Germain district) look on in horror as a parade of wealthy American women, twice- or thrice-married, attempt to infiltrate aristocratic society... While the French may consider divorce a common American disease, America has its own Faubourg, called Washington Square, where dissolved marriages are viewed with equal scorn. We see this clearly in the novel's opening section. [Penguin] This is a fine, attractive copy, with scarcely any of the spine-fading that often afflicts this binding. Garrison A21.I.a. Provenance: bookplate of Bertha Eifert (probably later Allmendinger of St. Louis, born about 1897).
Synopsis
Wharton's glittering satire of the newly affluent in Old New YorkConsidered 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 behavior that is both supremely informed and supremely disenchanted.*This new edition features a new introduction and explanatory notes and reset text
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Details
- Bookseller
- Sumner & Stillman (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 15485
- Title
- THE CUSTOM OF THE COUNTRY
- Author
- Wharton, Edith
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Date Published
- 1913
- Bookseller catalogs
- Fiction (Early 20th Century); Books By Women;
Terms of Sale
Sumner & Stillman
About the Seller
Sumner & Stillman
About Sumner & Stillman
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- Cloth
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