The Custom of the Country
by Edith Wharton
The satirical anatomy of American society, Edith Wharton, appeared in the first decade of the twentieth century, in 1913; this both surprised and fascinated early critics and established him as the main novelist. The Saturday Review wrote that it "gathers as many people as you can put between the covers of a six-hundred-page novel," but concluded that the book was "brilliantly written" and "should read like a parable." It tells the story of Undine Spragg, who recently came to New York from the Midwest and is determined to conquer high society. Charming, selfish, hired and manipulative, their main asset is her impressive beauty, perseverance and father's money. Aiming for a profitable marriage, Undine pursues her plans in a world of changing values, and victory is quickly followed by dismission. Wharton recreated an environment he knew intimately, and Undine's training for social success was meticulously detailed. The novel captures America's post-Civil War world in a beautiful way, relentless in its business and politics as well as in its social ambitions.
