The House of Mirth (Signet Classics)
Worth buying if: You enjoy character-driven social critique about Gilded Age New York.
Skip it if: You expect a plot-heavy thriller rather than a social novel.
Exact edition: Edition shown · ISBN-13 9780451527561. The Amazon link uses this ISBN, so the product page should open to the edition shown here.
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Summary
Wharton's 1905 novel follows Lily Bart, a beautiful yet precarious socialite whose choices, debts, and relationships drive her toward isolation and ruin, exposing the merciless rules of wealth and marriage in Gilded Age New York.
Why this book now
This Signet Classics edition invites contemporary readers to reassess Wharton's portrait of class, gender, and money as debates about social mobility and reputation resurface.
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Best for readers who...
Good fit if you want...
- You enjoy character-driven social critique about Gilded Age New York.
- You want sharp psychological realism centered on Lily Bart.
- You expect a plot-heavy thriller rather than a social novel.
- You prefer modernist fragmentation over Wharton's formal realism.
- You only want something with very current references and examples.
Decided it fits?
Exact edition: Edition shown · ISBN-13 9780451527561
Worth buying if: You enjoy character-driven social critique about Gilded Age New York.
Skip it if: You expect a plot-heavy thriller rather than a social novel.
Check Amazon for the current price and availability of this exact edition.
Reader guide
Cues to help you decide faster.
Reading commitment
Balanced Moderate time
At roughly 350 pages, expect a steady, close-reading experience of formal prose and social detail over several sittings rather than a quick plot romp.
What stands out here
This New Amer Library Classics Signet edition foregrounds Wharton's polished language and the enduring social themes around Lily Bart and Gilded Age etiquette.
Best way to approach it
Read slowly to savor Wharton's period dialogue and social nuance, pausing to note Lily Bart's motivations and the novel's moral ironies.
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Exact edition: ISBN-13 9780451527561
Check Amazon for the current price and availability of this exact edition.