14 h 52 minAudiobook6 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 14 h 52 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the life you are trained to want leaves no room for the freedom you need?
Lily Bart is beautiful, clever, and twenty-nine. She moves through New York high society with no fortune of her own, raised to secure her place by marrying money. Yet each promising match feels like a bargain she cannot quite accept. Her choices narrow as her debts grow.
In The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton brings Lily close to Lawrence Selden, a modest lawyer whose idea of freedom draws her. Around them, friendship and money are hard to separate. Gus Trenor offers financial help with expectations attached, while a reputation depends on people with interests of their own.
What you’ll discover
- A woman caught between worlds Follow Lily's longing for both luxury and independence, and feel the strain between them.
- The cost of help Watch apparent generosity become a claim on Lily's attention and her choices.
- Rooms full of calculation Enter country houses and parties where manners conceal judgments about money and rank.
- An uncertain promise of freedom Meet Selden, whose admiration for Lily runs deeper than his readiness to act.
- Beauty under watchful eyes See Lily through Wharton's close attention to dresses, faces, and the rules of belonging.
Who will love it
For readers who love close studies of character, social comedy that turns serious, and stories about money and marriage in New York high society.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Lily Bart stands at the edge of wealth
- She was raised to be sold well
- A country house offers a dull fortune
- Borrowed money comes with strings
- Bertha Dorset turns a friend into an enemy
- Society turns on a woman it once praised
- Money and marriage rule every choice
- Freedom is costly and Selden is not simple
- Wharton tells it with irony and exact detail
Who’s who
- Lily BartA beautiful, clever woman of twenty-nine with no money, trained to marry well, who wants luxury and independence and cannot easily have both.
- Lawrence SeldenA modest lawyer who admires Lily, stands outside society's game, and holds a private idea of freedom that he is slow to act on.
- Gus TrenorA rich, coarse husband of Lily's friend who offers to invest money for her and expects favor and attention in return.
- Bertha DorsetA clever, bored society wife with secrets to guard, who can raise or ruin a reputation with a word.
- Simon RosedaleA wealthy financier, scorned by old families, who is ambitious and shrewd and sees Lily as a fitting wife.
- Gerty FarishSelden's cousin, a plain, warm woman who lives modestly, does charity work, and loves Lily, though she feels a pang of jealousy over Selden.
- Mrs. PenistonLily's rich, stingy aunt, who gives her a home and an allowance but avoids looking too closely at Lily's life.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 14 h 52 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 6 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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The House of Mirth
by Edith Wharton · 1905
Lily Bart has beauty but no fortune, and New York society asks her to choose between a rich husband and independence.
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In short
What happens to a woman whose only asset is her beauty when she hesitates to sell it? The House of Mirth, published in 1905, follows Lily Bart, a young woman in New York high society who has been trained to marry a fortune and has none of her own.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Lily Bart stands at the edge of wealth
The novel opens at Grand Central Station. Lawrence Selden, a lawyer of modest means, sees Lily Bart standing apart from the crowd and later invites her to his rooms for tea. She accepts.
Selden has a small flat, a shelf of books and a calm air of not needing anyone's approval. Lily finds this restful, because her own life depends on approval at every hour. On the sidewalk outside, Simon Rosedale, a rich financier whom good society looks down on, sees her. She tells a small lie about where she has been.
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What is The House of Mirth about?
Her scruples, her debts and her rivals make that goal harder as the story goes on.
What does the title The House of Mirth mean?
It comes from the book of Ecclesiastes, which says the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. The phrase points to a world of pleasure and show that hides emptiness.
Is The House of Mirth based on a true story?
But Wharton drew on her own experience of old New York high society, and the customs, snobbery and money pressures in the novel reflect that real world. It was published in 1905.
The author
Edith Wharton
1862–1937 · American novelist
Edith Wharton (1862–1937) was an American writer and designer born in New York City. She later lived in France, where she died. Her books include The House of Mirth (1905), Ethan Frome (1911), and The Age of Innocence (1920). She co-wrote The Decoration of Houses with Ogden Codman Jr. in 1897.
More by Edith Wharton
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