The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

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The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton was my January Author Birthday Challenge book, meaning I chose to read a book by a famous author whose birthday corresponds with the month.   Edith Wharton was born on January 24, 1862. 

 

I truly enjoyed The House of Mirth, but it was a challenging book for me because Wharton’s writing style seems much more sophisticated than her other books, The Age of Innocence, and definitely more so than Ethan Frome. The musings are at times, confusing, with her word-play as twisted as a knot of ropes. It took some concentration to decipher the meaning at times. Forget  Wordle, crosswords, or Sudoku!  Challenge your mind with this book. 

 

Yet it was so worth it!

 

Lily Barton is a Gilded-Age socialite trying to hang on to the pretenses of a lifestyle she can no longer afford. She’s basically a gold-digger searching for wealth, ignoring the urgings of true love. There’s an internal conflict within herself. She was born and raised to be in this upper echelon, and wouldn’t know how to exist outside those confines. But high society is an exclusive club full of rules where missteps can leave you out in the cold—even rumors of missteps. And that’s what happens to Lily. 

 

Like I said, I really enjoyed it. But if I had to rate the three books of Wharton's that I’ve read, this would be in 3rd place, with The Age of Innocence in 2nd place, and Ethan Frome right at the top.

 

Here's an example of her prose:

“…but what had passed in the secrecy of her own breast seemed to resolve itself; when the mist of the struggle cleared, into a breaking down of the bounds of self, a deflecting of the wasted personal emotion into the general current of human understanding.”  

❗️One more thing:  This is a book where a lot of characters are dumped out at once, like a bag of marbles. In Chapter 4, Judy Trenor unloads a lot of gossip and as the reader, we’re not sure who’s who and who to pay close attention to yet. So it helps if you have a basic character list at this point.

🎬I did watch the 2000 DVD starring a young Gillian Anderson. For the most part it followed the book. There were some minor differences such as the omission of Gerty Farish character and kinda merging her with Grace Stepney. But the most notable difference is the ending. In the book the ending brings up some questions that book clubs could well debate. The movie, however, has a definite view on it.

 Happy Reading,

      Annette

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