The House of Mirth--Book Review

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The House of Mirth. Edith Wharton. Originally published 1905. Bookspan, 2000.

Book review by Jane
This book is about a not-especially-young woman named Lily Bart who is a member of high society through her relatives, who are dwindling away. She then has only her aunt to rely on for support, counting on an inheritance from this aunt. While she is not a nasty person, she really shows little awareness or concern for her aunt’s wishes as far as her future goes. Any type of marriage eludes her. While she is still in this predicament, her aunt dies, leaving her out of the will. So, she spends down what she has and finally becomes a poor working woman. The book mainly deals with how she handles high society’s treatment of her, both before and after her financial decline. She is brave throughout the book, although she did not always make the smartest decisions. But, while she played the “game”, she still managed to be herself, which is more than can be said about some of her contemporaries. She even finds herself in a position to do harm to someone else's reputation with her to gain from it, but decides against doing so.

This novel must offer a clear look into high society around the turn of the century, because Edith Wharton was a member of high society herself. The reader of The House of Mirth would get the impression that Edith Wharton knew people like the ones she described. The book gives the reader a chance to contrast what was thought of as proper for women at the turn of the century and now. Of course, this is with the understanding that the women portrayed in the book were privileged.

As a woman writer of her time, Edith Wharton won the Pulitzer Prize for The Age of Innocence (Barnes & Noble Classics). She wrote many short stories and novels, as well as non-fictional accounts.

Tracey thought enough of this book to present it to me for Christmas. I really enjoyed it.

Jane.

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