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{ "item_title" : "The House of Mirth", "item_author" : [" Edith Wharton", "Anna Fields "], "item_description" : "Set among the elegant brownstones and opulent country houses of turn-of-the-century upper-class New York, Edith Wharton's first great novel is a precise, satiric portrayal of what the author herself called a society of irresponsible pleasure-seekers. Her brilliantly complex characterization of the doomed Lily Bart, whose stunning beauty and dependence on marriage for economic survival reduce her to a decorative object, is an incisive commentary on the status of women in that society. Lily is all too much a product of the world indicated by the title, a phrase taken from Ecclesiastes: The heart of fools is in the house of mirth. From her tragic attraction to bachelor lawyer Lawrence Seldon to her desperate relationship with the social-climbing Rosedale, it is Lily's very specialness that threatens the fulfillment she seeks in life. Time after time, Lily fails to make the ultimate move, to abandon the possibility of a greater love and enter into a mercenary union. This masterful novel from one of literature's greatest voices is a tragedy of money, morality, and missed opportunity.", "item_img_path" : "https://covers2.booksamillion.com/covers/bam/0/78/619/350/0786193506_b.jpg", "price_data" : { "retail_price" : "24.95", "online_price" : "24.95", "our_price" : "24.95", "club_price" : "24.95", "savings_pct" : "0", "savings_amt" : "0.00", "club_savings_pct" : "0", "club_savings_amt" : "0.00", "discount_pct" : "10", "store_price" : "" } }
The House of Mirth|Edith Wharton

Overview

Set among the elegant brownstones and opulent country houses of turn-of-the-century upper-class New York, Edith Wharton's first great novel is a precise, satiric portrayal of what the author herself called "a society of irresponsible pleasure-seekers." Her brilliantly complex characterization of the doomed Lily Bart, whose stunning beauty and dependence on marriage for economic survival reduce her to a decorative object, is an incisive commentary on the status of women in that society. Lily is all too much a product of the world indicated by the title, a phrase taken from Ecclesiastes: "The heart of fools is in the house of mirth." From her tragic attraction to bachelor lawyer Lawrence Seldon to her desperate relationship with the social-climbing Rosedale, it is Lily's very specialness that threatens the fulfillment she seeks in life. Time after time, Lily fails to make the ultimate move, to abandon the possibility of a greater love and enter into a mercenary union. This masterful novel from one of literature's greatest voices is a tragedy of money, morality, and missed opportunity.

Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780786193509
  • ISBN-10: 0786193506
  • Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
  • Publish Date: March 2001

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