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Reading Guide

The Custom of the Country

By Edith Wharton

By Edith Wharton

By Edith Wharton
Introduction by Jia Tolentino

By Edith Wharton
Introduction by Jia Tolentino

By Edith Wharton

By Edith Wharton

By Edith Wharton
Introduction by Jia Tolentino

By Edith Wharton
Introduction by Jia Tolentino

By Edith Wharton

By Edith Wharton

By Edith Wharton

By Edith Wharton

Best Seller

Part of Vintage Classics

Part of Modern Library Torchbearers

Part of Modern Library Torchbearers

Part of Vintage Classics

Paperback $14.00

Jun 05, 2012 | ISBN 9780307949547

Paperback $15.00

Oct 09, 2001 | ISBN 9780375758072

Mass Market Paperback $6.95

Apr 01, 1991 | ISBN 9780553213935

Ebook $11.99

Sep 10, 2019 | ISBN 9780593133101

Ebook $4.99

Jun 05, 2012 | ISBN 9780307950581

Ebook $1.99

Dec 26, 2007 | ISBN 9780553904444

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    The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton
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    Jun 05, 2012 | ISBN 9780307950581

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    • $14.00

      Jun 05, 2012 | ISBN 9780307949547

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • $15.00

      Oct 09, 2001 | ISBN 9780375758072

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • $6.95

      Apr 01, 1991 | ISBN 9780553213935

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • Sep 10, 2019 | ISBN 9780593133101

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • Jun 05, 2012 | ISBN 9780307950581

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • Dec 26, 2007 | ISBN 9780553904444

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    Buy the Ebook:

    About The Custom of the Country

    Edith Wharton’s lacerating satire on marriage and materialism in turn-of-the-century New York features her most selfish, ruthless, and irresistibly outrageous female character.
     
    Undine Spragg is an exquisitely beautiful but ferociously acquisitive young woman from the Midwest who comes to New York to seek her fortune. She achieves her social ambitions—but only at the highest cost to her family, her admirers, and her several husbands. Wharton lavished on Undine an imaginative energy that suggests she was as fascinated as she was appalled by the alluring monster she had created. It is the complexity of her attitude that makes The Custom of the Country—with its rich social and emotional detail and its headlong narrative power—one of the most fully realized and resonant of her works.

    About The Custom of the Country

    The classic satire of New York society and the American Dream through the misadventures of an insatiable young striver—with an introduction by Jia Tolentino, author of Trick Mirror

    Ambitious and wholeheartedly materialistic, Undine Spragg is a beautiful heiress who sees men as a means to an end. New York millionaires and French aristocrats fall at her feet, but each conquest is merely a stepping-stone in Undine’s quest for power and position—and in her elusive search for happiness.

    A biting satire from one of America’s greatest writers, The Custom of the Country features a compelling and ruthless heroine, a sharp-eyed critique of the marriage market and its objectification of women, and a knowing send-up of Gilded Age snobbery. 

    The Modern Library Torchbearers series features women who wrote on their own terms, with boldness, creativity, and a spirit of resistance:

    AMERICAN INDIAN STORIES • THE AWAKENING • THE CUSTOM OF THE COUNTRY • THE HEADS OF CERBERUS • LADY AUDLEY’S SECRET • LOVE, ANGER, MADNESS • PASSING • THE TRANSFORMATION OF PHILIP JETTAN • VILLETTE

    About The Custom of the Country

    The classic satire of New York society and the American Dream through the misadventures of an insatiable young striver

    Ambitious and wholeheartedly materialistic, Undine Spragg is a beautiful heiress who sees men as a means to an end. New York millionaires and French aristocrats fall at her feet, but each conquest is merely a stepping-stone in Undine’s quest for power and position—and in her elusive search for happiness.

    A biting satire from one of America’s greatest writers, The Custom of the Country features a compelling and driven antiheroine, a sharp-eyed critique of the marriage market and its objectification of women, and a knowing send-up of Gilded Age snobbery.

    About The Custom of the Country

    The classic satire of New York society and the American Dream through the misadventures of an insatiable young striver—with an introduction by Jia Tolentino, author of Trick Mirror

    Ambitious and wholeheartedly materialistic, Undine Spragg is a beautiful heiress who sees men as a means to an end. New York millionaires and French aristocrats fall at her feet, but each conquest is merely a stepping-stone in Undine’s quest for power and position—and in her elusive search for happiness.

    A biting satire from one of America’s greatest writers, The Custom of the Country features a compelling and ruthless heroine, a sharp-eyed critique of the marriage market and its objectification of women, and a knowing send-up of Gilded Age snobbery. 

    The Modern Library Torchbearers series features women who wrote on their own terms, with boldness, creativity, and a spirit of resistance:

    AMERICAN INDIAN STORIES • THE AWAKENING • THE CUSTOM OF THE COUNTRY • THE HEADS OF CERBERUS • LADY AUDLEY’S SECRET • LOVE, ANGER, MADNESS • PASSING • THE TRANSFORMATION OF PHILIP JETTAN • VILLETTE

    About The Custom of the Country

    Edith Wharton’s lacerating satire on marriage and materialism in turn-of-the-century New York features her most selfish, ruthless, and irresistibly outrageous female character.
     
    Undine Spragg is an exquisitely beautiful but ferociously acquisitive young woman from the Midwest who comes to New York to seek her fortune. She achieves her social ambitions—but only at the highest cost to her family, her admirers, and her several husbands. Wharton lavished on Undine an imaginative energy that suggests she was as fascinated as she was appalled by the alluring monster she had created. It is the complexity of her attitude that makes The Custom of the Country—with its rich social and emotional detail and its headlong narrative power—one of the most fully realized and resonant of her works.

    About The Custom of the Country

    The classic satire of New York society and the American Dream through the misadventures of an insatiable young striver

    Ambitious and wholeheartedly materialistic, Undine Spragg is a beautiful heiress who sees men as a means to an end. New York millionaires and French aristocrats fall at her feet, but each conquest is merely a stepping-stone in Undine’s quest for power and position—and in her elusive search for happiness.

    A biting satire from one of America’s greatest writers, The Custom of the Country features a compelling and driven antiheroine, a sharp-eyed critique of the marriage market and its objectification of women, and a knowing send-up of Gilded Age snobbery.

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    Also by Edith Wharton

    Summer
    The Custom of the Country
    The Age of Innocence
    The House of Mirth
    Ethan Frome
    See all books by Edith Wharton

    Also by Edith Wharton

    Summer
    The Custom of the Country
    The Age of Innocence
    The House of Mirth
    Ethan Frome
    See all books by Edith Wharton

    Also by Edith Wharton

    Summer
    The Custom of the Country
    The Age of Innocence
    The House of Mirth
    Ethan Frome
    See all books by Edith Wharton

    Also by Edith Wharton

    Summer
    The Custom of the Country
    The Age of Innocence
    The House of Mirth
    Ethan Frome
    See all books by Edith Wharton

    Also by Edith Wharton

    Summer
    The Custom of the Country
    The Age of Innocence
    The House of Mirth
    Ethan Frome
    See all books by Edith Wharton

    Also by Edith Wharton

    Summer
    The Custom of the Country
    The Age of Innocence
    The House of Mirth
    Ethan Frome
    See all books by Edith Wharton

    About Edith Wharton

    The upper stratum of New York society into which Edith Wharton was born in 1862 provided her with an abundance of material as a novelist but did not encourage her growth as an artist. Educated by tutors and governesses, she… More about Edith Wharton

    About Edith Wharton

    The upper stratum of New York society into which Edith Wharton was born in 1862 provided her with an abundance of material as a novelist but did not encourage her growth as an artist. Educated by tutors and governesses, she… More about Edith Wharton

    About Edith Wharton

    The upper stratum of New York society into which Edith Wharton was born in 1862 provided her with an abundance of material as a novelist but did not encourage her growth as an artist. Educated by tutors and governesses, she… More about Edith Wharton

    About Edith Wharton

    The upper stratum of New York society into which Edith Wharton was born in 1862 provided her with an abundance of material as a novelist but did not encourage her growth as an artist. Educated by tutors and governesses, she… More about Edith Wharton

    About Edith Wharton

    The upper stratum of New York society into which Edith Wharton was born in 1862 provided her with an abundance of material as a novelist but did not encourage her growth as an artist. Educated by tutors and governesses, she… More about Edith Wharton

    About Edith Wharton

    The upper stratum of New York society into which Edith Wharton was born in 1862 provided her with an abundance of material as a novelist but did not encourage her growth as an artist. Educated by tutors and governesses, she… More about Edith Wharton

    Product Details

    Category: Classic Fiction | Literary Fiction | Historical Fiction

    Paperback | $14.00
    Published by Vintage
    Jun 05, 2012 | 432 Pages | 5-3/16 x 8 | ISBN 9780307949547

    Category: Classic Fiction | Literary Fiction | Historical Fiction

    Paperback | $15.00
    Published by Modern Library
    Oct 09, 2001 | 416 Pages | 5-3/16 x 8 | ISBN 9780375758072

    Category: Classic Fiction | Literary Fiction | Historical Fiction

    Mass Market Paperback | $6.95
    Published by Bantam Classics
    Apr 01, 1991 | 480 Pages | 4-3/16 x 6-7/8 | ISBN 9780553213935

    Category: Classic Fiction | Literary Fiction | Historical Fiction

    Ebook | $11.99
    Published by Modern Library
    Sep 10, 2019 | 416 Pages | ISBN 9780593133101

    Category: Classic Fiction | Literary Fiction | Historical Fiction

    Ebook | $4.99
    Published by Vintage
    Jun 05, 2012 | 432 Pages | ISBN 9780307950581

    Category: Classic Fiction | Literary Fiction | Historical Fiction

    Ebook | $1.99
    Published by Bantam Classics
    Dec 26, 2007 | 480 Pages | ISBN 9780553904444

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    Praise

    "Edith Wharton’s finest achievement."
    –Elizabeth Hardwick

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