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Can't get enough of the Gilded Age fast talkers, débutantes, and social climbers who populate Edith Wharton's exquisitely wrought novels? Fans of The House of Mirth and The Age of Innocence will love The Custom of the Country, which details country girl Undine Spragg's attempt to take a bite out of Big Apple high society.

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Edith Wharton's classic story of one woman's quest for wealth and status after the turn of the twentieth century Beautiful, selfish, and driven, Undine Spragg arrives in New York with all of the ambition and naivete that her midwestern, nouveau riche upbringing afforded her. As cunning as she is lovely, Undine has but one goal in life: to ascend to the upper echelons of high society. And so with a single-minded tenacity, Undine continues to maneuver through life, finding all the while that true satisfaction remains just beyond her grasp. Hailed by Elizabeth Hardwick as "Edith Wharton's finest

The Spraggs, a wealthy family of Midwesterners, are visiting New York City to marry off their beautiful daughter Undine. While Undine's beauty catches the attention of several high-society men, she finds it difficult to fit in with the old-money social circles that rule New York. When she finally marries Ralph Marvell, she embraces a life full of frivolities, which eventually leads to her tumultuous demise. Best known for inspiring the hit series Downton Abbey, this classic novel is a scathing critique of ambition featuring one of the most ruthless heroines in literature.

"Wharton's sly and delicious novel about the ambitious social ascent of Undine Spragg, now in a Penguin Vitae edition, with a foreword by Sofia Coppola"--

From New York to Europe, the apartments of the nouveau riche to ancient French estates, Edith Wharton tells the story of Undine Spragg, a girl from a Midwestern town with unquenchable social aspirations. Though Undine is narcissistic, pampered, and incredibly selfish, she is a beguiling heroine whose marital initiation into New York high society from its trade-wealthy fringes is only the beginning of her relentless ambitions. Wharton weaves an elaborate plot that renders a detailed depiction of upper-class social behavior in the early twentieth century. By utilizing a character with inexorable greed in a novel of manners, she demonstrates some of the customs of a modern age and posits a surprising explanation for divorce and the social role of women, which still resonates for the modern audience today.

Single-minded and spoilt, Undine Spragg arrives in New York determined to procure for herself a social status to match her family’s wealth. Ambition, greed and an arresting beauty soon secure her path to marriage... and also to divorce. The Custom of the Country (1913) is a sophisticated commentary on both – touching on the implications for a woman of ending a marriage at a time when the author herself was navigating that very situation. As the splendidly mismatched Undine and Ralph travel to Europe, Wharton contrasts the pecuniary motivation of the nouveau riche in America with European ideals of tradition, and through her array of characters and subtle insights into society, she delivers a novel every bit as immersive and entertaining as The Age of Innocence.

Highly acclaimed at its publication in 1913, The Custom of the Country is a cutting commentary on America's nouveaux riches, their upward-yearning aspirations and their eventual downfalls. Through her heroine, the beautiful and ruthless Undine Spragg, a spoiled heiress who looks to her next materialistic triumph as her latest conquest throws himself at her feet, Edith Wharton presents a startling, satiric vision of social behavior in all its greedy glory. As Undine moves from America's heartland to Manhattan, and then to Paris, Wharton's critical eye leaves no social class unscathed. "From the Trade Paperback edition."

First published in 1913 and regarded by many critics as her most substantial novel, "The Custom of the Country" is Edith Wharton's powerful saga about the beautiful, ruthless Undine Spragg. A woman of extraordinary ambition and exuberant vitality, Undine is consigned by virtue of her sex to the shadow world of the drawing room and boudoir. Marriage remains the one institution through which she can exercise her will as she entrances man after man, marrying one after the other with protean facility and almost monstrous avidity. A novel that ranges from New York to Paris, from Apex City, Kansas, to Reno, Nevada, "The Custom of the Country" stands as a dark satire of American business, society, and the nouveaux riches, and as Edith Wharton's contribution to the tradition of the American epic.

Wharton's sly and delicious novel about the ambitious social ascent of Undine Spragg, now in a Penguin Vitae edition, with a foreword by Sofia Coppola A Penguin Vitae Edition Considered by many to be her masterpiece, Edith Wharton's second full-length work is a scathing yet personal examination of the exploits and follies of the modern upper class. As she unfolds the story of Undine Spragg, from New York to Europe, Wharton affords us a detailed glimpse of what might be called the interior decor of this America and its nouveau riche fringes. Through a heroine who is as vain, spoiled, and selfish as she is irresistibly fascinating, and through a most intricate and satisfying plot that follows Undine's marriages and affairs, she conveys a vision of social behavior that is both supremely informed and supremely disenchanted.

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 an antiheroine as compelling and driven as Scarlett O'Hara, 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

One of Edith Wharton's most acclaimed works, The Custom of the Country is a blistering indictment of materialism, power, and misplaced values. Its heroine, Undine Spragg, is one of the most ruthless characters in all of literature, as selfishly unscrupulous as she is fiercely beautiful. As she climbs the class ladder through a series of marriages and affairs, she shows little concern for who she has to step on. Her rise to the top of New York's elite society provides a poignant and scathing commentary on the unquenchable ambitions of America's nouveau riche.

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. nbsp; 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.

Undine Spragg is one of the most selfishly unscrupulous heroines in all of literature. Her rise to the top of New York's society provides a poignant commentary on the unquenchable ambitions of America's nouveau riche.

Edith Wharton's satiric anatomy of American society in the first decade of the twentieth century appeared in 1913; it both appalled and fascinated its first reviewers, and established her as a major novelist. The Saturday Review wrote that she had 'assembled as many detestable people as it ispossible to pack between the covers of a six-hundred page novel', but concluded that the book was 'brilliantly written', and 'should be read as a parable'.It follows the career of Undine Spragg, recently arrived in New York from the midwest and determined to conquer high society. Glamorous, selfish, mercenary and manipulative, her principal assets are her striking beauty, her tenacity, and her father's money. With her sights set on an advantageousmarriage, Undine pursues her schemes in a world of shifting values, where triumph is swiftly followed by dissullusion.Wharton was recreating an environment she knew intimately, and Undine's education for social success is chronicled in meticulous detail. The novel superbly captures the world of post-Civil War America, as ruthless in its social ambitions as in its business and politics.

Beautiful, calculating Undine Spragg wants more than anything to be stylish. Never satisfied, she is constantly planning her next social accomplishment. In her struggle, she encounters Ralph Marvell, a gentleman from the upper class, who falls helplessly in love with her. But the restless Undine is concerned only for her own well-being, and does not understand the feelings of those who surround her.

The novel tells of Undine Spragg, a beautiful young woman from the Midwest who arrives in 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

First published in 1913, Edith Wharton’s The Custom of the Country is a scathing novel of ambition featuring one of the most ruthless heroines in literature. Undine Spragg is as unscrupulous as she is magnetically beautiful. Her rise to the top of New York’s high society from the nouveau riche provides a provocative commentary on the upwardly mobile and the aspirations that eventually cause their ruin. One of Wharton’s most acclaimed works, The Custom of the Country is a stunning indictment of materialism and misplaced values that is as powerful today for its astute observations about greed and power as when it was written nearly a century ago.

When Udine Spragg moves to New York from the Midwest with her family, she's naïve to the ways of upper class society, but determined to climb the social ladder and live the kind of extravagant lifestyle that her new surroundings have exposed her to. However, Udine's manipulations tend to be blunt, leaving her attached to men that she soon grows bored with, or who fall short of her ever-growing expectations. The Custom of the Country is one of Edith Wharton's lasting novels, and the character of Udine Spragg has been compared to other famous anti-heroines, including Gone with the Wind's Scarlett O'Hara and Vanity Fair's Becky Sharp. Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes has also cited The Custom of the Country as an inspiration for his work. HarperPerennial Classics brings great works of literature to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in ebook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the HarperPerennial Classics collection to build your digital library.

The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton is a brutal coming-of-age story that takes place in post-revolutionary Paris. The heroine, Countess Olenska, is a Polish countess who has married an American, Mr. Lansdon. At the time of their marriage, she was young and inexperienced in romance, but her husband soon passes away.

Ruthless and predatory, Edith Wharton's seductive young heroine Undine Spragg exploits a series of husbands from the American west to New York and France in her search for one with the ideal combination of social power, money, and material possessions--something "more luxurious, more exciting, more worthy of her!" Wharton's criticism of the leisure-class marriage market becomes a brilliant satire on the nature of desire, as the novel links marriage and divorce with selfish ambition and the culture of consumerism. This Broadview edition provides a critical introduction and appendices that include Wharton's outline for and correspondence about The Custom of the Country, excerpts from Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué's novella Undine, and passages from works by Charles Darwin, Emma Goldman, Henry James, and Thorstein Veblen, among others.

First published in 1913, Edith Wharton's "The Custom of the Country" tells the story of Undine Spragg, a girl from a Midwestern town with unquenchable social aspirations. Though Undine is narcissistic, pampered, and incredibly selfish, she is also a fascinating, vibrant, and beguiling heroine whose marital initiation into New York high society from its trade-wealthy fringes is only the beginning of her relentless plans. Undine is never satisfied with what she has and constantly hungers for more wealth, more prestige, and more luxury. Her search for these lofty goals takes her from New York to Europe and the apartments of the nouveau riche to ancient French estates. While Undine's cleverness and single-mindedness ultimately gets her what she wants most, it comes at great cost to everyone else, such as her family, child, and many husbands. Through Undine's restlessness and ambition, Wharton weaves an elaborate plot that renders a detailed depiction of upper class social behavior in the early twentieth century. By utilizing a character with inexorable greed in a novel of manners, Wharton explores the social customs of an emerging modern age and the changing role of women in society.

Edith Wharton tells the story of Undine Spragg, a girl from a Midwestern town with unquenchable social aspirations. Though Undine is narcissistic, pampered, and incredibly selfish, she is a beguiling heroine whose marital initiation into New York high society from its trade-wealthy fringes is only the beginning of her relentless ambitions.

Undine Spragg, selfish and spoiled, determines to gain admittance into turn-of-the-century New York society.

Edith Wharton's novels of manners seem to grow in stature as time passes. Here she draws a beautiful social climber, Undine Sprague, who is a monster of selfishness and honestly doesn't know it. Although the worlds she wants to conquer have vanished, Undine herself is amazingly recognizable. She marries well above herself twice and both times fails to recognize her husbands' strengths of character or the weakness of her own, and it is they, not she, who pay the price.

Edith Wharton's satiric anatomy of American society in the first decade of the twentieth century both appalled and fascinated its first reviewers. The novel follows the career of Undine Spragg, recently arrived in New York from the midwest and determined to conquer high society. She pursues her schemes in a world of shifting values, where triumph is swiftly followed by disillusion.

If only I were sure of knowing what to expect!' he caught up at her joke, tossing it back at her across the fascinating silence of their listeners. 'Why everything!' she announced With the intention of making a suitable match, Undine Spragg and her parents move to New York where her youthful, radiant beauty and ruthless ambition prove an irrestible force. Here Edith Wharton dissects the traditions, pretensions and prohibitions of American and European society - both the ostentacious glitter of the 'nouveau riche' and the faded grandeur of the upper classes - with an eye on all the more exacting for its dispassionate gaze. And in Undine Spragg she has created an unforgettable heroine - a woman taught to dazzle and enslave, but to know nothing of the financial and social cost of the status she so passionately craves.

* The only critical editionEdith Wharton's satiric anatomy of American society in the first decade of the twentieth century both appalled and fascinated its first reviewers. It follows the career of Undine Spragg, as she pursues her schemes and social ambitions in a world of shifting values, where triumph is swiftly followedby disillusion.

"Undine Spragg is beautiful-anyone in New York will admit to as much. But what is the point of beauty if no one can see you? The Spraggs left the Midwest in search of a glamorous life for their daughter. Now, cooped up in a gilded uptown hotel they can barely afford, they begin to fear their move to the big city was for naught. But Undine is determined. And Undine always gets her way. What follows is a tactical climb to the pinnacle of affluence and early 20th-century high society that will amaze and mortify. Witty and devasting, The Custom of the Country is an astute comedy of manners and a scathing satire of upper-class life that bites to this day. More than a century after its original publication, Edith Wharton's 1913 masterpiece remains an un-put-downable showcase for one of the most memorable, controversial anti-heroines in American literature"--

Classic Literature. Fiction. Literature. Historical Fiction. HTML: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.

Classic Literature. Fiction. HTML:This eBook features the unabridged text of 'The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton - Delphi Classics (Illustrated)' from the bestselling edition of 'The Complete Works of Edith Wharton'.

Having established their name as the leading publisher of classic literature and art, Delphi Classics produce publications that are individually crafted with superior formatting, while introducing many rare texts for the first time in digital print. The Delphi Classics edition of Wharton includes original annotations and illustrations relating to the life and works of the author, as well as individual tables of contents, allowing you to navigate eBooks quickly and easily.eBook features:

• The complete unabridged text of 'The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton - Delphi Classics (Illustrated)'

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Fiction. Romance. In this book, Edith Wharton creates the character Undine Spragg, who puts aside everything for her climb up the social and financial ladder. She is an unlikable character that is simply a spoiled brat. Her desire for money and rank in high society has made her a woman that is totally selfish and doesn't care who she has to hurt to get where she wants. This book gives a sight into the high society circles in New York before the Great War. Please Note: This book is easy to read in true text, not scanned images that can sometimes be difficult to decipher. The Microsoft eBook has a contents page linked to the chapter headings for easy navigation. The Adobe eBook has bookmarks at chapter headings and is printable up to two full copies per year. Both versions are text searchable.

The Custom of the Country tells the story of Midwestern family's rise to riches and their daughter's attempts to survive New York City high society. The story tells of her scramble from one marriage to another in an attempt to 'have it all' and find love at the same time.

This is the story of spoiled Undine Spragg, a vain heroine who rises from Dakota to New York to Paris, leaving behind a trail of broken promises on her quest for a place in the upper class.

"Edith Wharton's finest achievement." -- Elizabeth HardwickThe Custom of the Country may well be have been the lynchpin that made Edith Wharton's career become the phenomenon that comes so easily to memory across so many decades. Oh, it's of a cloth with all her work -- there's no mistaking that a page of her writing came from her and not someone else -- but on a certain level, this novel is a mean book, and the meanness is warranted.

THE CUSTOM OF THE COUNTRY is probably Edith Wharton's most savage satire on the manners of late nineteenth-century America. It is the story of the exquisitely beautiful but brutally ambitious Undine Spragg who marries her way into the high aristocracy of Europe, abandoning several husbands along the way. This novel, which has scences of comedy and even farce, is a commentary on both certain aspects of feminisim and certain aspects of capitalism in Edith Wharton's time. The novel makes a fitting companion to THE AGE OF INNOCENCE and THE HOUSE OF MIRTH and shows Wharton to be one of the greatest American novelists.

The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton Considered by many to be her masterpiece, Edith Wharton's second full-length work is a scathing yet personal examination of the exploits and follies of the modern upper class. As she unfolds the story of Undine Spragg, from New York to Europe, Wharton affords us a detailed glimpse of what might be called the interior d cor of this America and its nouveau riche fringes. Through a heroine who is as vain, spoiled, and selfish as she is irresistibly fascinating, and through a most intricate and satisfying plot that follows Undine's marriages and affairs, she conveys a vision of social behavior that is both supremely informed and supremely disenchanted. - Anita Brookner We are delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive Classic Library collection. Many of the books in our collection have been out of print for decades, and therefore have not been accessible to the general public. The aim of our publishing program is to facilitate rapid access to this vast reservoir of literature, and our view is that this is a significant literary work, which deserves to be brought back into print after many decades. The contents of the vast majority of titles in the Classic Library have been scanned from the original works. To ensure a high quality product, each title has been meticulously hand curated by our staff. Our philosophy has been guided by a desire to provide the reader with a book that is as close as possible to ownership of the original work. We hope that you will enjoy this wonderful classic work, and that for you it becomes an enriching experience.

A collector's edition of Edith Wharton's controversial novel "The Custom of the Country," about beautiful, ambitious social climber Undine Spragg; illustrated with materials from The New York Public Library's rare book and manuscript collections.

A forgotten classic by the acclaimed author of The Age of Innocence, The Custom of the Country recounts the story of Undine Spragg, a young out-of-town girl attempting to social climb in New York City, with devastating effects   The Spraggs, a nouveau riche family with a shady background, have been enticed to New York City in an attempt to please their beautiful but determined daughter, Undine. She might have rapidly snared Ralph Marvell, a member of an illustrious but impoverished family, but a shadow from her previous life lingers in the shape of a threatening acquaintance from her Midwest days, Elmer Moffatt. Faced with the reality of a disappointing family life, Undine soon embarks on an affair and her marriage swiftly breaks down. But, once divorced, Undine loses her place in society and is forced to retire to the country to regroup and plan--her attempts to trap another husband are rendered problematic by her status as a divorcee. Resorting to blackmail, the ruthless Undine plays a dangerous game and things start to go awry as her secrets gradually begin to emerge with devastating results. Wharton's brilliant writing shows the carnage that her heroine leaves in her wake as she undergoes the chilling transition from naïve young debutante to full-blown femme fatale. 

The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Drama / General; Drama / American; Fiction / Classics; Fiction / Humorous; Fiction / Literary; Fiction / Family Life;

The first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for literature, Edith Wharton stands among the finest writers of early 20th-century America. In The Custom of the Country, Wharton's scathing social commentary is on full display through the beautiful and manipulative Undine Spragg. When Undine convinces her nouveau riche parents to move to New York, she quickly injects herself into high society. But even a well-to-do husband isn't enough for Undine, whose overwhelming lust for wealth proves to be her undoing.

Considered by many to be her masterpiece, Edith Wharton's second full-length work is a scathing yet personal examination of the exploits and follies of the modern upper class. As she unfolds the story of Undine Spragg, from New York to Europe, Wharton affords us a detailed glimpse of what might be called the interior décor of this America and its nouveau riche fringes. Through a heroine who is as vain, spoiled, and selfish as she is irresistibly fascinating, and through a most intricate and satisfying plot that follows Undine's marriages and affairs, she conveys a vision of social behavior that is both supremely informed and supremely disenchanted. This edition features a new introduction and explanatory notes and reset text. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

The Custom of the Country (1913) focuses on a Midwestern girl, Undine Spragg, who attempts to win a high position in New York society. With clear motives and dark secrets, Undine enters the city's social scene. The unscrupulous, ever-unsatisfied Undine, through divorce and blackmail, schemes endlessly for what is beyond her grasp.

With the publication of this controversial novel, Edith Wharton leveled her most biting critique at the limitations that her society placed upon the ambitious woman. The Custom of the Country--which Harold Bloom, among others, considers her strongest achievement--takes its name from Fletcher and Massinger's Jacobean play about a medieval custom in which the feudal lord had a right to use the body of any common woman in his domain, either for his own pleasure or for money by prostituting her on her wedding night. In Wharton's American revision, it is the woman herself who ruthlessly sells herself to whatever man she believes can provide her with the success she desires. Undine Spragg is a magnificent antiheroine, viciously and precisely rendered by the author. With photographs by Alvin Langdon Coburn and drawings by Charles Dana Gibson, this Collector's Edition evokes the atmosphere of nineteenth-century New York. It also brings us closer to the author herself, with letters in her hand and other archival traces of her life from the special collections of The New York Public Library.

(Applause Books). This brilliantly crafted stage version of Wharton's sprawling novel dissecting the New York social scene focuses on the beautiful, but predatory, Undine Spragg and the men in her life. Representing a world motivated by a heartless desire for power and status, Undine takes on lovers and husbands, discarding them when her whims of iron move her. Hitchcock has captured the satiric brilliance of the original work, while managing to transform a narrative of over 500 pages into a tightly-wrought stage piece. In the process, she provides a finely-drawn portrait of an unforgettable heroine against the background of a cruel social milieu dominated by rigid class distinctions and deeply-ingrained prejudices. "A luminous adaptation." Boston Globe

Whartons glittering satire of the newly affluent in Old New York Considered by many to be her masterpiece, Edith Whartons second full-length work is a scathing yet personal examination of the exploits and follies of the modern upper class. As she unfolds the story of Undine Spragg, from New York to Europe, Wharton affords us a detailed glimpse of what might be called the interior dcor of this America and its nouveau riche fringes. Through a heroine who is as vain, spoiled, and selfish as she is irresistibly fascinating, and through a most intricate and satisfying plot that follows Undines marriages and affairs, she conveys a vision of social behavior that is both supremely informed and supremely disenchanted. BACKCOVER: As long as men and women seek to use each otherand to use each other badlyEdith Wharton can be counted upon to provide the ideal commentary. Anita Brookner

Udine Spragg is from a western family who used slightly unorthodox methods for making money. She is in New York trying to better herself by marring up the social ladder. Her dissatisfaction causes her to have elicit affairs and several divorces. Will she find contentment in her final relationship?

The Custom of the Country is a novel by Edith Wharton, first published in 1913. It is the tale of a country girl called Undine Spragg and her attempt to climb the ladder of New York City society. An entertaining and authentic look at American high society, The Custom of the Country will not disappoint those who have read and enjoyed other works by this author. This volume includes a specially commissioned new biography of the author.

"Undine Spragg-how can you?" her mother wailed, raising a prematurely-wrinkled hand heavy with rings to defend the note which a languid "bell-boy" had just brought in. But her defence was as feeble as her protest, and she continued to smile on her visitor while Miss Spragg, with a turn of her quick young fingers, possessed herself of the missive and withdrew to the window to read it. "I guess it's meant for me," she merely threw over her shoulder at her mother. "Did you EVER, Mrs. Heeny?" Mrs. Spragg murmured with deprecating pride. Mrs. Heeny, a stout professional-looking person in a waterproof, her rusty veil thrown back, and a shabby alligator bag at her feet, followed the mother's glance with good-humoured approval. "I never met with a lovelier form," she agreed, answering the spirit rather than the letter of her hostess's enquiry. Mrs. Spragg and her visitor were enthroned in two heavy gilt armchairs in one of the private drawing-rooms of the Hotel Stentorian. The Spragg rooms were known as one of the Looey suites, and the drawing-room walls, above their wainscoting of highly-varnished mahogany, were hung with salmon-pink damask and adorned with oval portraits of Marie Antoinette and the Princess de Lamballe. In the centre of the florid carpet a gilt table with a top of Mexican onyx sustained a palm in a gilt basket tied with a pink bow. But for this ornament, and a copy of "The Hound of the Baskervilles" which lay beside it, the room showed no traces of human use, and Mrs. Spragg herself wore as complete an air of detachment as if she had been a wax figure in a show-window. Her attire was fashionable enough to justify such a post, and her pale soft-cheeked face, with puffy eye-lids and drooping mouth, suggested a partially-melted wax figure which had run to double-chin. Mrs. Heeny, in comparison, had a reassuring look of solidity and reality. The planting of her firm black bulk in its chair, and the grasp of her broad red hands on the gilt arms, bespoke an organized and self-reliant activity, accounted for by the fact that Mrs. Heeny was a "society" manicure and masseuse. Toward Mrs. Spragg and her daughter she filled the double role of manipulator and friend; and it was in the latter capacity that, her day's task ended, she had dropped in for a moment to "cheer up" the lonely ladies of the Stentorian. The young girl whose "form" had won Mrs. Heeny's professional commendation suddenly shifted its lovely lines as she turned back from the window. "Here-you can have it after all," she said, crumpling the note and tossing it with a contemptuous gesture into her mother's lap.

The Custom of the Country is a 1913 tragicomedy of manners novel by American Edith Wharton. It tells the story of Undine Spragg, a Midwestern girl who attempts to ascend in New York City society. The Spraggs, a family of midwesterners from the fictional city of Apex who have made money through somewhat shady financial dealings, arrive in New York City at the prompting of their beautiful, ambitious, but socially naive daughter, Undine. She marries Ralph Marvell, a would-be poet and member of an old New York family that has social status but no longer enjoys significant wealth. Before her wedding, Undine encounters an acquaintance from Apex named Elmer Moffatt, an ambitious and somewhat unpleasant character with "a genuine disdain for religious piety and social cant", as the scholar Elaine Showalter observes. Undine, who appears to have had a relationship with Moffatt that might prove embarrassing to her, begs him not to do anything that will endanger her wedding to Ralph. Elmer agrees. Although Ralph dotes on Undine, his finances do not permit the extravagant lifestyle Undine desires, and she feels that her in-laws scorn her. When she becomes pregnant, she is disconsolate; and she neglects her son, Paul, after he is born. Alone in Europe, Undine begins an affair with the nouveau riche Peter Van Degen, who is married to Ralph's cousin, Clare. She then divorces Ralph in the hope of marrying Peter, but this does not work out: Peter seems to want nothing more to do with Undine, and Clare will not grant him a divorce anyway. As a divorcee, Undine loses her high position in society, and spends a few years living in North Dakota, New York, and Paris, scheming to scramble up the social ladder again. In Paris, a French count, Raymond de Chelles, falls in love with Undine. They desire to get married, but, as a Catholic, Raymond cannot marry a divorcée. To procure enough money to bribe the Pope to annul Undine's previous marriage, Undine blackmails Ralph. Having been awarded custody of their son, but allowing him to live with Ralph (it was inconvenient for her to raise him in Europe), she demands that the boy be sent to her. It is clear that she will let him remain with Ralph only if he sends her a large sum of money. Ralph does not have sufficient funds of his own, so he borrows money from friends and family and invests it in one of Elmer Moffatt's business deals. The deal does not go through in time to meet Undine's deadline, and Moffat also informs Ralph that he had once eloped with Undine and then was divorced from her-the secret she feared that New York society would discover. Shocked, and also distraught at the thought of losing his son, Ralph commits suicide. Undine is able to marry Raymond as a widow, though this would not be possible if Raymond knew of her first marriage to Moffat. Undine is soon dissatisfied with Raymond, too. The de Chelles are hidebound aristocrats, their wealth tied up in land and art and antiques that they will not consider selling, and Undine cannot adjust to the staid customs of upper-class French society. She also resents having to spend most of her time in the country because her husband cannot pay for expensive stays, entertainment, and shopping trips in Paris. Ultimately, she divorces Raymond in order to remarry Elmer Moffatt, who by now has made a fortune. Now, married to the crass midwestern businessman who was best suited to her in the first place, Undine finally has everything she ever desired. Still, it is clear that she wants even more: in the last paragraph of the novel, she imagines what it would be like to be an ambassador's wife - a position closed to her owing to her divorces. (wikipedia.org)

Excerpt from The Custom of the Country But her defence was as feeble as her protest, and she continued to smile on her visitor while Miss Spragg, with a turn of her quick young fingers, possessed her self of the missive and withdrew to the window to read it. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The Custom of the Country is a 1913 novel by Edith Wharton. It tells the story of Undine Spragg, a Midwestern girl who attempts to ascend in New York City society.OCo Excerpted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia."

Beautiful Undine Spragg from Apex, Kansas, is a social climber. Her society career, marriages, divorces, and conquests are all part of her greed.

Mr and Mrs Spragg are hoping to forge an entree into society and arrange a suitably ambitious match for their only daughter. We follow the career of the selfish, spoiled Undine Spragg, recently arrived in New York and determined to conquer high society. Her principal assets are her striking beauty, her tenacity and her father's money.

Edith Whartons 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 one of the most selfishly unscrupulous heroines in all of literature. Her rise to the top of New York's society from the nouveau riche provides a blistering indictment of materialism and misplaced values.

Undine Spragg, selfish, spoiled, and self-absorbed, is determined to gain admittance into turn-of-the-century New York high society, in a period study of misplaced values and materialism.

Part of the Everyman series which has been re-set with wide margins for notes and easy-to-read type. Each title includes a themed introduction by leading authorities on the subject, life-and-times chronology of the author, text summaries, annotated reading lists and selected criticism and notes.

Midwestern girl Undine Spragg schemes to ascend the social ladder in New York City through an advantageous marriage to Ralph Marvell, who comes from and old New York family of high social status but, unfortunately, little wealth left to their name. When Ralph's finances do not let Undine enter the lavish life she wants, she has an affair with Ralph's cousin Clare's husband, the nouveau riche Peter Van Degen. However, after Peter refuses to marry her when she already divorced Ralph, Undine is left reeling and embarrassed, living and moving between North Dakota, New York, and Paris, ever seeking to make her way back up the social ladder.

"Undine Spragg-how can you?" her mother wailed, raising a prematurely-wrinkled hand heavy with rings to defend the note which a languid "bell-boy" had just brought in.But her defence was as feeble as her protest, and she continued to smile on her visitor while Miss Spragg, with a turn of her quick young fingers, possessed herself of the missive and withdrew to the window to read it.

Undine Spragg is a beautiful and ambitious, yet vain and socially dense young woman with dreams of marrying a rich man. Hoping for a life of prominence and luxury, Undine convinces her family to relocate to New York. The Spragg family, who have a earned their modest wealth from shady practices, are happy to accommodate Undine's request. When Undine meets Ralph Marvell, an aspiring poet from a family of old New York high society, she is determined to become his wife. After a brief courtship, she gets her wish, however, Undine soon realizes that she is still unsatisfied. Though Ralph is a good husband--kind and doting, he does not have the money to support her extravagant lifestyle. While his family enjoys an elevated social status, it is mainly just reminiscent on a prior generation's wealth; Ralph's family does not possess a significant amount of money. Feeling judged by her in-laws and upset that she cannot purchase luxury items, Undine is unhappy in the marriage, feeling even worse after the birth of their son, Paul. Often neglectful of Paul, Undine begins an affair with an aristocrat named Peter. As their love affair intensifies, Undine becomes set on leaving Ralph, ignoring the possible consequences of being a divorcee in pursuit of money, sex, and social status. With narrative twists and memorable characters, The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton is a fast-paced story that explores the nuances of American society. Through themes of class, lovely prose and intricate satire, The Custom of the Country pays special attention to the social class divides of 20th century America. While Wharton's novel allows modern readers to gain perspective on a specific era in America, contemporary audiences can also reflect on the ways this class system still effects social customs today. This edition of The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton now features a new, eye-catching cover design and is printed in a font that is both modern and readable. These accommodations cater to a modern audience, allowing contemporary readers to enjoy the compelling narrative of The Custom of the Country with ease.

The Custom of the Country

Why buy our paperbacks? Unabridged (100% Original content) Printed in USA on High Quality Paper 30 Days Money Back Guarantee Standard Font size of 10 for all books Fulfilled by Amazon Expedited shipping BEWARE OF LOW-QUALITY SELLERS Don't buy cheap paperbacks just to save a few dollars. Most of them use low-quality papers & binding. Their pages fall off easily. Some of them even use very small font size of 6 or less to increase their profit margin. It makes their books completely unreadable. About The Custom Of The Country by Edith Wharton The Custom of the Country is a 1913 novel by Edith Wharton. It tells the story of Undine Spragg, a Midwestern girl who attempts to ascend in New York City society. The Spraggs, a family of midwesterners from the fictional city of Apex who have made money through somewhat shady financial dealings, arrive in New York City at the prompting of their beautiful, ambitious, but socially-naive daughter, Undine. She marries Ralph Marvell, a member of an old New York family that no longer enjoys significant wealth. Before her wedding, Undine encounters an acquaintance from Apex named Elmer Moffatt, a character with "a genuine disdain for religious piety and social cant", as the scholar Elaine Showalter observes. Undine begs him not to do anything that will endanger her wedding to Ralph. Elmer agrees.

The Custom of the Country tells the story of Undine Spragg, a Midwestern girl who attempts to ascend in New York City society.

Edith Wharton (January 24, 1862 - August 11, 1937) was an American novelist, short story writer, and designer.

The Custom of the Country tells the story of midwestern family's rise to riches and their daughter's attempts to survive New York City high society. The story tells of her scramble from one marriage to another in an attempt to have it all and find love at the same time. This Xist Classics edition has been professionally formatted for e-readers with a linked table of contents. This eBook also contains a bonus book club leadership guide and discussion questions. We hope you'll share this book with your friends, neighbors and colleagues and can't wait to hear what you have to say about it.Xist Publishing is a digital-first publisher. Xist Publishing creates books for the touchscreen generation and is dedicated to helping everyone develop a lifetime love of reading, no matter what form it takes

The Terminal Experiment

"The Custom of the Country", by Edith Wharton. Edith Wharton was pulitzer prize-winning American novelist, short story writer, and designer (1862-1937).

Undine Spragg, a social upstart, arrives in New York City from Apex with her parents and attempts to find a husband to go up the social ladder.The Spraggs, a family of Westerners from Apex who have made money through shady financial dealings, arrive in New York City at the prompting of their daughter Undine who is dissatisfied with their station. For a while Undine struggles to enter the top echelons of society until finally she meets Ralph Marvell, a member of the old upper-class New York society, and they get married. Although Ralph cares for Undine a great deal and caters to her every whim, unfortunately his financial situation does not permit the kind of extravagances Undine desires and thinks she deserves.It was published at a time when Wharton herself was going through a divorce.

The Spraggs, a family of midwesterners from the fictional city of Apex who have made money through somewhat shady financial dealings, arrive in New York City at the prompting of their beautiful, ambitious, but socially-naive daughter, Undine. She marries Ralph Marvell, a member of an old New York family that no longer enjoys significant wealth. Before her wedding, Undine encounters an acquaintance from Apex named Elmer Moffatt, a character with "a genuine disdain for religious piety and social cant", as the scholar Elaine Showalter observes. Undine begs him not to do anything that will endanger her wedding to Ralph.

Classics for Your Collection: goo.gl/U80LCr --------- Considered by many to be her masterpiece, The Custom of the Country produced one of Wharton's most memorable characters, Miss Undine Spragg, who comes to New York from a well to do, but not socially connected, family. She finally breaks into high society when she meets and eventually marries Ralph Marvell. He has the family connections but not the wealth she is hoping for, but she has stepped on that ladder of upward mobility and she takes advantage of every opportunity from that point to fulfill her dreams. Wharton's ability to create interesting characters, captivating plots, and prose that is incredibly beautiful, makes anything she writes a pleasure to read. Scroll Up and Get Your Copy! Timeless Classics for Your Bookshelf Classic Books for Your Inspiration and Entertainment Visit Us at: goo.gl/0oisZU

The Custom of the Country is a scathing novel of ambition featuring one of the most ruthless heroines in literature. Undine Spragg is as unscrupulous as she is magnetically beautiful. Her rise to the top of New York's high society from the nouveau riche provides a provocative commentary on the upwardly mobile and the aspirations that eventually cause their ruin. One of Wharton's most acclaimed works, The Custom of the Country is a stunning indictment of materialism and misplaced values that is as powerful today for its astute observations about greed and power as when it was written nearly a century ago.Edith Wharton (1862-1937), American novelist and short-story writer, was born in New York City. Strongly influenced by Henry James, she is best known for her subtle and su-perbly crafted studies of the tragedies and ironies in the lives of members of middle-class and artistocratic New York soci-ety in the the nineteenth century. She was educated in New York and Europe, and married Edward Wharton, a Boston banker, in 1885. When her husband became mentally ill, she cared for him until 1913, when she settled permanently in France and divorced him. Among her best and most characteristic works are The House of Mirth (1905) and The Age of Innocence (1920), for which she received a Pultizer prize.

The Custom of the Country, in 1913, just after she had finalized her divorce and moved permanently to France. Somewhat naturally, it is a book about divorce, still considered an indecent topic for literature at that time.

Edith Wharton's satirical anatomy of American society in the first decade of the 20th century, follows the career of Undine Spragg, recently arrived in New York and determined to conquer high society. Her principal assets are her striking beauty, her tenacity, and her father's money.

Edith Wharton (born Edith Newbold Jones, January 24, 1862 - August 11, 1937) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, short story writer, and designer.Her works :The Touchstone, 1900The Valley of Decision, 1902Sanctuary, 1903The House of Mirth, 1905Madame de Treymes, 1907The Fruit of the Tree, 1907Ethan Frome, 1911The Reef, 1912The Custom of the Country, 1913Bunner Sisters, 1916Summer, 1917The Marne, 1918The Age of Innocence, 1920 (Pulitzer Prize winner)The Glimpses of the Moon, 1922A Son at the Front, 1923Old New York, 1924The Mother's Recompense, 1925Twilight Sleep, 1927The Children, 1928Hudson River Bracketed, 1929The Gods Arrive, 1932The Buccaneers, 1938Fast and Loose, 1938 (first novel, written in 1876-1877)

Follows the career of Undine Spragg, recently arrived in New York from the Midwest and determined to conquer high society through an advantageous marriage.

Thesis novel on American marriage and the divorce problem.

The Custom of the CountryBy Edith Wharton

Edith Wharton's satiric anatomy of American society in the first decade of the twentieth century both appalled and fascinated its first reviewers. It follows the career of Undine Spragg, as she pursues her schemes and social ambitions in a world of shifting values, where triumph is swiftly followed by disillusion. - ;Edith Wharton's satiric anatomy of American society in the first decade of the twentieth century appeared in 1913; it both appalled and fascinated its first reviewers, and established her as a major novelist. The Saturday Review wrote that she had 'assembled as many detestable peo

Undine Spragg is a beautiful and ambitious, yet vain and socially dense young woman with dreams of marrying a rich man. Hoping for a life of prominence and luxury, Undine convinces her family to relocate to New York. The Spragg family, who have earned their modest wealth from shady practices, are happy to accommodate Undine's request. When Undine meets Ralph Marvell, an aspiring poet from a family of old New York high society, she is determined to become his wife. After a brief courtship, she gets her wish, however, Undine soon realizes that she is still unsatisfied. Though, Ralph is a good husband, kind and doting, he does not have the money to support her extravagant lifestyle. While his family enjoys an elevated social status, it is mainly just reminiscent on a prior generation's wealth; Ralph's family does not possess a significant amount of money. Feeling judged by her in-laws and upset that she cannot purchase luxury items, Undine is unhappy in the marriage, feeling even worse af...

"[...]even a monogram-simply her address and telephone number. It gave Undine rather a poor opinion of Mrs. Fairford's social standing, and for a moment she thought with considerable satisfaction of answering the note on her pigeon-blood paper. Then she remembered Mrs. Heeny's emphatic commendation of Mrs. Fairford, and her pen wavered. What if white paper were really newer than pigeon blood? It might be more stylish, anyhow. Well, she didn't care if Mrs. Fairford didn't like red paper-SHE did! And she wasn't going to truckle to any woman who lived in a small house down beyond Park Avenue... Undine was fiercely independent and yet passionately imitative. She wanted to surprise every one by her dash and originality, but she could not help modelling[...]".

In 1862 Edith Wharton was born into New York's wealthy and extravagant Jones family (the inspiration for the phrase 'keeping up with the Joneses'). A gifted and prolific writer, Wharton won a Pulitzer Prize in 1921, and was nominated on three occasions for the Nobel Prize for literature. Despite her upbringing among the elite, Edith Wharton became one of its most effective critics, eventually leaving the United States and spending the latter part of her life in France. In The Custom of the Country, she casts an acerbic and cynical eye over New York society at the turn of the century, noting its mores and conventions with a special interest in the lives of those men and women who choose to flout the rules. Wharton's writing intentionally destroys the literary conventions of her day, casting aside its sentimental view of the domesticated, passive female in favour of the four-times married Undine Spragg, an adventuress and social climber. Following Undine's unprincipled attempts to be accepted into 'Society' allows the author ample scope to ruthlessly dissect the hypocrisy and superficiality of the moneyed classes in early nineteenth century America.

The Custom of the Country is a 1913 novel by Edith Wharton.

"Undine Spragg-how can you?" her mother wailed, raising a prematurely-wrinkled hand heavy with rings to defend the note which a languid "bell-boy" had just brought in. But her defence was as feeble as her protest, and she continued to smile on her visitor while Miss Spragg, with a turn of her quick young fingers, possessed herself of the missive and withdrew to the window to read it. "I guess it's meant for me," she merely threw over her shoulder at her mother. "Did you EVER, Mrs. Heeny?" Mrs. Spragg murmured with deprecating pride. Mrs. Heeny, a stout professional-looking person in a waterproof, her rusty veil thrown back, and a shabby alligator bag at her feet, followed the mother's glance with good-humoured approval. "I never met with a lovelier form," she agreed, answering the spirit rather than the letter of her hostess's enquiry. Mrs. Spragg and her visitor were enthroned in two heavy gilt armchairs in one of the private drawing-rooms of the Hotel Stentorian. [...]

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In der Absicht, sich einen m©œglichst wohlhabenden, m©œglichst vornehmen Mann f©ơrs Leben zu angeln, zieht die junge, strahlend sch©œne Undine Spragg mit ihren Eltern aus der Provinz nach New York. Tats©Þchlich wird sie in den eleganten Salons der 5th Avenue bald f©ơndig - muss aber zu ihrem Kummer erkennen, dass Reichtum und gesellschaftl.Ansehen noch selten konform gehenIn der Absicht, sich einen m©œglichst wohlhabenden, m©œglichst vornehmen Mann f©ơrs Leben zu angeln, zieht die junge, strahlend sch©œne Undine Spragg mit ihren Eltern aus der Provinz nach New York. Tats©Þchlich wird sie in den eleganten Salons der 5th Avenue bald f©ơndig - mu© aber zu ihrem Kummer erkennen, da© Reichtum und gesellschaftl.Ansehen noch selten konform gehen.

In der Absicht, sich einen m©œglichst wohlhabenden, m©œglichst vornehmen Mann f©ơrs Leben zu angeln, zieht die junge, strahlend sch©œne Undine Spragg mit ihren Eltern aus der Provinz nach New York. Tats©Þchlich wird sie in den eleganten Salons der 5th Avenue bald f©ơndig - mu© aber zu ihrem Kummer erkennen, da© Reichtum und gesellschaftl.Ansehen noch selten konform gehen.

Il etait caracteristique de sa part de garder de ses echecs un souvenir aussi aigu que de ses triomphes, et un desir passionne de les "rattraper", qui comptait toujours parmi les motifs obscurs de sa conduite. Elle avait enfin ce qu'elle voulait - elle avait conscience de posseder "ce qu'il y avait de mieux" ; et parmi les autres sensations, plus diffuses, l'adoration de Ralph lui procurait le plaisir raffine qu'aurait pu connaitre une reine guerriere portee en triomphe par les princes vaincus, et lisant dans les yeux de l'un d'eux la passion qu'il n'eut pas ose exprimer. Ondine Spragg s'ouvre les portes de l'aristocratie new-yorkaise grace a son mariage avec Ralph Marvell. Son ambition l'amene a divorcer et a se lancer a la conquete des hommes susceptibles de lui apporter tout ce qu'elle desire, c'est-a-dire l'amusement mais aussi la respectabilite. Si elle echoue face au banquier Peter Van Degen, elle va trouver une nouvelle victime en la personne du Marquis de Chelles, grace a qui elle va - espere-t-elle - trouver une place de choix dans le monde du Faubourg Saint-Germain. Mais c'est vers Elmer Moffatt, un ami d'enfance auquel elle avait ete mariee secretement, qu'elle finira par revenir et en compagnie duquel elle trouvera le bonheur. Les qualites d'analyse de la grande Edith Wharton font merveille dans cette vaste fresque qui depeint une classe a l'agonie dans ce monde du XXe siecle en pleine formation, et tracent avec une talentueuse audace le portrait d'une femme moderne.

Undine Spragg una consentida y egoísta deductra es una mujer frívola y ambiciosa, no dudaen casarse con un rico magnate y consigue la libertad.