num_pages: 80
description: This brilliantly crafted stage version of Wharton's sprawling novel dissecting the New York social scene focuses on the beautiful, but predatory, Undine Spragg and the men in her life. Representing a world motivated by a heartless desire for power and status, Undine takes on lovers and husbands, discarding them when her whims of iron move her. Hitchcock has captured the satiric brilliance of the original work, while managing to transform a narrative of over 500 pages into a tightly-wrought stage piece. In the process, she provides a finely-drawn portrait of an unforgettable heroine against the background of a cruel social milieu dominated by rigid class distinctions and deeply-ingrained prejudices.“A luminous adaptation.”– Boston Globe
language: English
title: The Custom of the Country: Based on Edith Wharton's 1913 Novel
titlecomplete: The Custom of the Country: Based on Edith Wharton's 1913 Novel (Applause Books)
characters: Elmer Moffatt, Undine Spragg, Claud Popple, Laura Fairford, Mabel Lipscomb, Raymond de Chelles, Peter Van Degen, Ralph Marvell, Leota Spragg, Abner Spragg, Charles Bowen, Clare Van Degen
genres: Fiction, 20th Century, Classics, Classic Literature, New York, American, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Literature, Novels
ratings_count: 13174
places: New York City, New York
publisher: Applause