The Custom of the Country (Penguin Classics)

Wharton’s glittering satire of the newly affluent in Old New York

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. BACKCOVER: “As long as men and women seek to use each other—and to use each other badly—Edith Wharton can be counted upon to provide the ideal commentary.”
—Anita Brookner