The House of Mirth

1 About this book

The House of Mirth is a tragedy about Lily Bart, a well-born but penniless young woman belonging to New York City's high society of the 1890s. Written by American author Edith Wharton, it came out October 14, 1905. The House of Mirth traces Lily's slow two-year social descent from privilege to a lonely existence on the margins of society as she fails to marry a man of wealth and status to secure her a place in affluent society. Wharton uses Lily, in critic Shari Benstock's words, as an attack on "an irresponsible, grasping and morally corrupt upper class."

The House of Mirth was serialized in Scribner's Magazine beginning in January 1905 which created great interest in the story. In November 1905, Charles Scribner wrote to Wharton that the novel was showing "the most rapid sale of any book ever published by Scribner." By the end of December, sales had reached 140,000 copies. Wharton's royalties were valued at more than half a million dollars in today's currency.

Summary adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Good for readers who want: a classic, a love story, and a book they can read free online.

• Classics
• Romance
• Single women
• Social classes
• Drama
• Social life and customs
• Social values
• New york