The House of Mirth: Original and Unabridged

The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton is set against the backdrop of 1890s New York upper-class society, written in the style of a novel of manners.

Wharton places her tragic heroine, Lily Bart, in a society that she describes as a "hot-house of traditions and conventions". The novel start with the unmarried Lily's visit to Lawrence Selden's apartment, a man whom she has feelings for. But to keep her social standing, Lily must marry a wealthier man than Selden. She turns towards Percy Gryce, a...