num_pages: 310
description: Considered 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 décor 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. - Anita Brookner
language: English
title: The Custom of the Country
titlecomplete: The Custom of the Country
characters: Mabel Lipscomb, Laura Fairford, Abner Spragg, Peter Van Degen, Clare Van Degen, Elmer Moffatt, Raymond de Chelles, Undine Spragg, Claud Popple, Ralph Marvell, Leota Spragg, Charles Bowen
genres: 20th Century, American, New York, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Novels, Literature, Classic Literature, Classics, Fiction
ratings_count: 13173
places: New York City, New York
publisher: Barnes and Noble