The Custom of the Country: A Trilogy

He's smart and all, if that's what you're into, but he's never been known to end a sentence and he has this perverse refusal to write the interesting parts of stories. It's like if the Death Star blew up off screen and the movie ended with people discussing it. Custom of the Country follows Wharton's best character, especially if you like terrible characters: Undine Spragg, the Edmund Hillary of social climbing. She arrives in New York from the allegorical Midwestern small town of Apex, with money on her mind. She's a social genius: But she's desperately shallow - "a mote in the beam of pleasure" - and that's her hamartia.

That's a fancy word I just learned; it means fatal flaw. If what they want is to talk about art or literature, she's bright enough to see that but in no way interested in doing it. So she goes through social circles, partners, cities. She dumps him for Peter Van Degen, who has the money but no intention of divorcing his wife; she rebounds with the French aristocrat Raymond de Chelles, who makes her a marquise but will not fund her partygoing.

And she ends up with who she started with, the crude, ambitious, successful Elmer Moffat. Her big secret all along has been that she capriciously married him back in Apex, in sortof a Britney Spears-in-Vegas move. In a bizarrely touching way, Moffat has loved her all along; he's pulled strings, sometimes cruelly, to keep her afloat and within reach.

You find yourself almost happy for her with this match; they're perfect for each other, both entirely untroubled by morals or empathy. But even at the end, with all the money and social standing she's ever wanted, she's already grasping for the next rung of the social ladder. Undine pronounced, probably, UNdeen is yet another in the long, long line of literature's shitty mothers.

The scheme drives Ralph Marvell to suicide. This plan was suggested by Elmer Moffat, in the most consequential example of his machinations. Much of this book is about divorce, and what it means for a woman; and indeed Edith Wharton wrote it as she went through her own, devastating divorce. It was a painful one, from a philandering and profligate husband - and not the only time Wharton would swap the genders while telling a story - and she never recovered from it; her social standing was permanently damaged.

Instead of remarrying, at age 50, she focused on writing novels. This was her second. So we should thank her lame husband, because if he were any better, she might never have fixed Henry James. Here's what James's psychological acuity and insight into human motivation looks like when it's engaged by someone who knows how to finish a sentence, and how to write the exciting parts.

Edith Wharton was deeply influenced by him - this book is a direct, if crooked, response to his aching Washington Square - but she's better than him. I love this judgment from Edmund White: She ends up combining the best of both of them into something that's better than either. She is a marvel. View all 9 comments. Jul 07, Perry rated it liked it. After reading the novel The Custom of the Country , I read that you attribute to this novel your success with, among other endeavors, the popular series Downton Abbey , and the part of your speech accepting the Edith Wharton Lifetime Achievement Award when you said: I think it's a remarkable piece of writing.

Undine has no values except ambition, greed and desire, and yet through the miracle of Wharton's writing, you are on her side. That's what's so extraordinary about the book I decided, largely because of her work, that it was time I wrote something. Perhaps I might attribute our difference in opinion to class distinctions: I do not think though, that this can be pegged simply to the fact that you are English and I am American. At least I hope that is not the case because I do sincerely believe that I am on the side of the angels here.

I enjoyed this fine novel as a satire of the upper class society in New York City at the start of the 20th Century. I take heart from the fact that no one in the novel pulls for or is on Undine's side except Undine. Her father cannot even stand her.

I cannot think of or imagine a female anti-heroine who is or could be more despicable, callow, vacuous, callous, nauseating, cold, loveless, loathsome, self-centered and inhumane as Undine Spragg. She was spoiled by her parents, threw fits when her father hesitated to bankrupt himself to buy her the next new thing to fit into NYC's upper crust, she married in hopes of money, then, when it was never enough, she abandoned husband and child and prostituted herself for jewelry, long stays in Paris, et cetera, then failed to come home from her vixen adventure to attend to her son or husband when the husband had pneumonia, did not bat an eye upon her husband's awful death, and committed many other moral misdeeds.

I wanted her to fall and miserably so in some tangible or measurable way; certainly, she failed in about every part of the moral human character and condition. By posting this online, I am inviting anyone of any class, gender, age, and from anywhere who has read this novel to enlighten me on what I am missing that put Baron Fellowes of West Stafford "on [Undine Spragg's] side. May 28, Hana rated it it was amazing Shelves: What a fatal, restless passion you have--not for men themselves--but for their admiration, and for the money and possessions they might bring you.

You do so love your ropes of pearls! And how utterly miserable you make yourself and everyone around you. Can anyone in this glittering world ever satisfy your insatiable lust for more and still more things? Will you settle for a fine apartment, perhaps on Fifth Avenue--surely the West Side is not enough? But no, the tapestries are so dusty and it's all such a bore! And who is the man who can satisfy you? The sensitive Ralph Marvell from a patrician New York family? Or the handsome, determined French aristocrat, Raymond De Chelles?

The Custom of the Country is an irresistible mix of grand soap opera and social satire simply packed with unforgettable characters, locations, and glorious descriptions. Home furnishings, architecture, dress silks or feathered hats--every detail is caressed with an acquisitive eye. Elegant, intimate salons filled with fine paintings, china vases and delicate gilded chairs The fading grandeur of Old Europe is keenly drawn, as is the invasion of New Money Americans eager to appropriate the 'finer things' without really understanding them.

View all 41 comments. Jun 26, [P] rated it really liked it. I have a saying which is that the greatest trick that man ever pulled was to convince women that they are free. Years ago men tried to control women by keeping them locked up in housework, in children, in piety. No, what we want, what we have always wanted, is for them to look nice, to leave us alone t I have a saying which is that the greatest trick that man ever pulled was to convince women that they are free.

No, what we want, what we have always wanted, is for them to look nice, to leave us alone to pursue our own interests, and yet to give us what we desire when we desire it. For that women needed to be convinced of their emancipation. This freedom, in my opinion, is a mirage. Furthermore, they have been taught to be satisfied with scraps of attention, to appreciate the glittery, the sparkling, the bright and blinding; which are all things that men can give them with little effort on their part.

Just look around you, at TV, at pop stars, and so on. Society is ordered in such a way as to create vacuous, easy, and lovely looking women. And this situation is getting worse, the numbers are growing with each new generation. Take it from a man, someone who has been dating girls for a number of years. In fact, one character, Charles Bowen, engages in a conversation, about half-way through the novel, in which similar points to my own are raised: How much does he rely on her judgment and help in the conduct of serious affairs?

And whose fault is that? Fairford, sinking back into her chair, sat gazing at the vertiginous depths above which his thought seemed to dangle her.

Why does the European woman interest herself so much more in what the men are doing? But even he has to conform to an environment where all the romantic values are reversed. Where does the real life of most American men lie?

The Custom of the Country Reader’s Guide

Reading it was one of those miracle discoveries that you get every so often in literature, when someone articulates almost exactly your own thoughts and feelings. The focus of the novel is Undine Spragg, a self-centred but very beautiful young woman. Her mother is weak and subservient, maybe even intimidated by her daughter; her father appears to believe that she should have everything she wants, no matter how unreasonable.

Indeed, Abner Spragg does exactly what I was talking about at the beginning of this review: Later, when she starts forming serious relationships, she brings the same expectations to them, which is that the man ought to always satisfy her desires. In these relationships, the male concern is sexual, but they take on the paternal role: In a way, you could call The Custom of the Country a feminist novel, because, of course, socialisation of women, male attitudes towards women, are feminist concerns.

However, Wharton is too clever and too deft a writer to fall into the trap of writing a political tract. What is most interesting about Undine is that she truly believes that she has a right to what she wants, that no one and nothing ought to be able to stop her. Undine thinks she is absolutely in the right; she would be mortified to think that she is in the wrong. There is, in fact, a great deal of naivety and innocence in her. She also makes many social faux pas; she does not use society, or manipulate it; she is essentially clueless, but eager to learn. The upshot is that Undine is both monstrous, almost sociopathic, and yet somehow strangely charming, strangely endearing.

And, I think, that the sympathy I felt towards her comes from me being a man, because, again, being a man I like, I respond to, beautiful but child-like women, just as the male characters in the novel do. If this is all the book had to say it would still be a brilliant, forward-thinking novel. However, it raises many other fascinating questions, deals with other engrossing themes, such as money, divorce, family, parentage, duty etc, etc. However, Undine is not quite as modern as she may seem at first glance.

She instinctively respects these traditional families, although only because she feels them to be important and respected by others. It is Elmer Moffatt, my favourite character in the novel, who truly embodies the new age. Moffatt is unrefined, he has no great name or heritage behind him; he is brash and loud and straight-talking; he is a speculator, a self-made man.

He is, in fact, The American Dream. There is a poignant scene towards the end of the novel, although in order to understand it some explanation is required. Undine has married a French aristocrat, who, albeit titled, and therefore giving the appearance of wealth, has very little ready cash. Undine, needing money for her trips to Paris, arranges for a man to come and view and put a value on some very expensive de Chelles family heirlooms; and Moffatt is the man who comes to buy them.

He offers two million dollars, but de Chelles turns the offer down. The Frenchman is incredulous, he cannot fathom why Undine would even have the heirlooms evaluated; there is no question, he says, of them ever being sold. For Undine, however, they are merely objects, which are pleasant to look at but only if they are not taking the place of other, more pressing, desires.

Anyway, eventually, right at the end of the book, Moffatt is seen bringing these heirlooms home. He has, of course, bought them. I feel as though Wharton could have cut the de Chelles marriage out completely, and if she had done so the novel would have been even more wonderful, more brutal. In any case, this minor quibble about pacing aside, The Custom of the Country is one of the most satisfying novels I have read this year. View all 18 comments. However, she was not always happy. Edith Wharton dazzles again! This time we meet only child and rich spoiled brat, Undine Spragg, who is on a mission to ingratiate herself in New York's upperclass society but is having trouble making the best of her limited funds and connections.

How is a beautiful and charming girl to be taken seriously when all that matters in thi How is a beautiful and charming girl to be taken seriously when all that matters in this exclusive world is wealth? Marry into money, of course! Undine was born for this lifestyle, all she needs is a benefactor husband she can mold and manipulate into giving her what she wants whenever she wants it. Enter Ralph Marvell - he's handsome, well bred, in line to inherit, and completely enamored by Undine's fresh beauty and perspective.

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She thinks he's the perfect man to cater to her every need but is love and adoration enough to change the listless poet? Undine is ambitious and driven where Ralph is languorous. How the two of their lives intertwine and change each other and the people around them is the brilliant and tragic story of The Custom of the Country. Like always, I am enamored by the characters and settings in this novel. Wharton has once again written a masterpiece that transcends time and place. It is a harrowing expose on the realities of marriage, business, parenthood, greed, missed opportunities, and how, in the real world, love is rarely ever enough.

Aug 09, Sara rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: My new favorite writer is Edith Wharton. I have read four of her wonderful novels this year and I intend to read all of the others in time. She is one of the sharpest observers of mankind that I have ever come across. You could believe that she sat and studied the people around her and then drew them in flesh and blood that often ran red on the sheets of paper in front of her. They are real, they breathe, and they make me wish to cry with them, comfort them or slap them with a fervor that is g My new favorite writer is Edith Wharton.

They are real, they breathe, and they make me wish to cry with them, comfort them or slap them with a fervor that is generally reserved for non-fictional human beings. Undine Spragg is one of the most complex characters ever drawn. Much of what she is can be easily understood by viewing her background and seeing her struggle to haul herself up from the acceptable but somewhat meager beginnings in Apex, NC to the elevated status of a New York society maven.

She seems to have no scruples about how she elevates herself, however, and she can recognize none of the greater qualities in people. She has so little regard for her child that she is willing to use him as a pawn in a game of ransom, and she will marry or exploit anyone she thinks will push her up the ladder of society. What is sadder still is that she has no recognition of what true genteel society is. She marries into that with Ralph and despises it. Her true match is the conniving, exploitive, and unrefined Moffat, who is also just a social climber. They have one thing in common, all their values are defined by money and position.

You can scream at her to apply the brakes, but she has got too much momentum to ever stop the vehicle. To carry the analogy a step further, if she survives the accident, she will only think she is safer in a bigger, heavier car. She will not really learn to drive any better. Her selfishness is unbelievable and yet, sorry to say, I have seen women just like her in my own lifetime And there had been moments lately when she had had to confess to herself that Moffatt did not fit into the picture. At first she had been dazzled by his success and subdued by his authority.

He had given her all she had ever wished for,and more than she had ever dreamed of having: But there were others when she saw his defects and was irritated by them: Now and then she caught herself thinking that his two predecessors--who were gradually becoming merged in her memory--would have said this or that differently, behaved otherwise in such and such a case. And the comparison was almost always to Moffatt's disadvantage.

Moffatt will be the next to be made miserable in trying to satisfy Undine, but at least Moffatt will be someone who will be armed against her, as he is her kind and her equal. Ralph Marvell is a stupendous character. He is an iconic picture of the old guard that is being squashed in favor of the nouveau riche. I thought of Ashley Wilkes in GWTW, a man who has outlived the lifestyle he was intended for All the qualities that make him exceptional are also the things that now hold him down in the society he inhabits.

He has his name and little else and we can clearly see the Dogenets are a family falling from power. He was a big fish in a small pond in Apex, in New York he barely knows how to fit into the society he seeks. It is easy to see that if not of Undine, he would have been happily prospering in Apex. I could not be more pleased to have added this wonderful book to my growing list of Wharton missives.

She is a masterful, insightful, splendid writer; a professional in the art of character study; and an expert in the art of flowing, expressive prose. If you have not come to her yet, you are missing one of the great writers of the early twentieth century. Feb 14, Gill rated it really liked it Shelves: A very good read, although I didn't find it as moving as The House of Mirth. What a 'heroine' Edith Wharton has created in Undine. I spent most of the book longing for her to get her comeuppance. You'll have to read the book yourself to find out whether or not she did! There was a part near the middle where I thought the story was becoming a bit slow moving, but the final third certainly ratcheted things up.

I thought the description of the Chateau de Saint Desert was brilliant. I love The Age of Innocence but I wonder if that love is a fluke. I never finished The House of Mirth because of its coincidental encounters and melodramatic confrontations, and I was able to pass over similar faults in The Custom of the Country only because the often clunky dramatic scenes are separated by long stretches of brilliantly measured descriptive prose, acerbic dissections of manners and motivations.

Also, I wanted to know how it would end. Comparison of James and Wharton is usually invidious, with James coming out ahead; and yes, her dialogue rarely attains the nuance and suggestion of his — but when it comes to American types, she sure nailed us hinterlanders. Edith Wharton understood a certain type of woman as well or better than anyone who ever wrote a book.

Undine was narcissistic, beautiful, manipulative, clever but not overly intelligent or curious , and, above all, ambitious. She was more ruthless and eviscerating than a mafia don. Eventually, one of her captivated followers might notice her complete lack of concern for anyone but herself and her lack of interest in anything other than shopping or dining. Some even began to find her boring, but Edith Wharton understood a certain type of woman as well or better than anyone who ever wrote a book. Some even began to find her boring, but as a reader I was never bored by her.

She was a fascinating piece of work and the book is absolutely wonderful. Nov 12, Jane rated it it was amazing Shelves: I have to address you, but I must confess that I am very nearly lost for words. I have never met anyone quite like you — in fact or in fiction — and you have made such an impression. You really are a force of nature. You had to be, to have lived the life that you have lived. You always got what you wanted. Did you appreciate what they did for you?

Did you understand how much they sacrificed? I think not; there was nothing in your words, your actions, your demeanour to suggest that you did. I began to feel sorry for them. You changed your behaviour, your appearance, your expectations, to become the person you wanted to be, the person you needed to be, to achieve your ambitions. You drew the attention of Ralph Marvell, the son of one of the oldest, grandest families in New York.

He loved your beauty, your difference; and you loved everything that he stood for. And so you married ….. He never did, he had not one iota of your drive and ambition, and I suspect that he lacked the talent. Ralph drifted through life, disappointed that he could not expand your narrow horizons, that he could not open your eyes to the beauty of the art and literature that he loved. He was part of an old order that was dying, and you were part of a new order that would adapt and survive.

There are more important things than money, luxury, fashion, and social position. You learned so much, but you never learned that. There would be more marriages, more travels, more possessions …. There would be more damage. My heart broke again, for the son you so often seemed to forget you had. And though you would never admit it, you were damaged by your own actions. You did learn a little; I learned a little about your past, and I came to feel that I understood you a little better; most of all, I do think that when you finally married the right man it made all the difference.

Because you are so utterly real; not a heroine, not a villainess, but a vivid, three-dimensional human being, with strengths and weaknesses. You are perfectly realised; your world and everything, everything around you is perfectly realised. The telling of your story is compelling, beautiful and so very profound. It speaks of its times and it has things to say that are timeless. Because, though times may change, human nature stays the same. View all 3 comments.

She would have been contemporary with the early years of the show Downton Abbey and I kept imagining her manipulating her way into the drawing or dining rooms there, and the subtle eye-rolling the Crawleys would have done when confronted with this American upstart. While never liking her, I still wanted to see what she would do next, what would happen because of it, and how she would rationalize it in her pretty, narcissistic little head.

About the only means women of that time had of gaining power and controlling their destiny was through linking up with powerful men. Countess Ellen Olenska in The Age of Innocence and Lily Bart in The House of Mirth , as well-to-do women in that era and environment, have similar challenges, but entirely different ways of dealing with them. At least they try to bring some level of integrity to the situation.

And the prose, of course, is stellar. My God, Edith Wharton could write. The In Crowd, Dobie Gray, https: The In Crowd cover by Bryan Ferry, https: View all 12 comments. Oct 28, Laysee rated it really liked it. The quest for wealth and upward social mobility is a normal human ambition — an ancient drive that never grows old. This is my fourth Wharton novel and I marvel at her flair for creating beautiful, vain, and self-serving female protagonists who are ruthless in seeking wealth and membership in the highest echelons of society.

Undine Spragg is a supremely attractive young lady whose family has moved from Apex City to New York in hopes that she will gain entry into the gilded sanctum of the rich and influential. Undine prides herself on two things she claims to live for: The easiest route is marriage. To her, marriages are merely "experiments in happiness". I derived a subversive thrill in anticipating her conquests. Wharton paints a lush and enticing picture of a lavish lifestyle available to a beautiful woman who has a wealthy husband: No wonder Undine throws a titanic fit whenever her expectations cannot be exceeded.

It is hard to like self-absorbed narcissistic women who are unapologetically opportunistic in their voracious pursuit of opulence and self-aggrandizement. With Lily Bart, I felt disgust but also pity, and even a modicum of respect for her at the end. With Undine Spragg, I felt only a revulsion that did not abate. Her first husband, genteel Ralph Marvell, she holds in contempt for his inability to keep up with her flamboyant spending habits.

She blackmails him over the custody of their son and the consequences are tragic. Even her 9-year-old son, Paul, is astute enough to see through her lies. By the end of the novel, Undine remains completely unchanged, devoid of any redeeming quality. Lily Bart, in contrast, has more self-respect. What is the custom of the country in the early twentieth century? According to Bowen, a friend of the Marvell family, it is against the custom of the country for a man to tell a woman about his work or interest her in it. The custom is for men to slave for women, make financial sacrifices, and to lavish their fortune on their wives.

Could this account for the expectations women like Undine have and their sense of entitlement? Of Ralph, Bowen says, "It's normal for a man to work hard for a woman - what's abnormal is his not caring to tell her anything about it. There is little point for Ralph to tell her about his business and struggles because she strikes me as incapable of taking an interest in her husband's work.

Undine does not care about anyone because she loves only herself. Beautifully written, it is an entertaining and enjoyable read. May 19, Bloodorange rated it it was amazing Shelves: I think this would make an excellent entry-level Wharton novel for a young reader who does not fully grasp the realities of the Old World and the Old New York, but is ready to learn. The protagonist, like many people in our time, strives after a certain lifestyle, the details of which become clearer with her apparently fairy-tale social ascent, as she grows aware of what is available, or unavailable, to her.

Even now, however, she was not always happy. She had everything she w Some quick thoughts: Undine Spragg appears to me disturbingly modern; like another mesmerizing beauty, Marylin Monroe, she believes sensuality is overrated, and is only excited by men's power and what they have to offer; like Amy Dunne of Gone Girl , of which Wharton's novel reminded me at times, Undine uses men as vehicles to attain her goals, discarding them once she notices they don't quite "fit into the picture".

More accessibly than in Wharton's other novels, yet still subtly, the author presents the realities of the changing social scene of New York, and the arrival of the parvenu 'invaders' entering the world and the lives of the Old New York high society: What Ralph understood and appreciated was Mrs. Spragg's unaffected frankness in talking of her early life. Here was no retrospective pretense of an opulent past, such as the other Invaders were given to parading before the bland but undeceived subject race.

The Spraggs had been "plain people" and had not yet learned to be ashamed of it. The fact drew them much closer to the Dagonet ideals than any sham elegance in the past tense. Definitely recommended as an intelligent beach read: Jul 27, Dov Zeller rated it it was amazing Shelves: Now I see that Edith Wharton is a true master of the craft. This novel is not perhaps innovative, but bold it is, and sharp as can be.

This is a long one. A real commitment which is ironic given the subject matter. But it's worth it! Basically, it's about the adventures of Undine Spragg, an unscrupulous American beauty who is short on empathy and long on desire for social status and, it seems, innocent fun at dinner parties though she's happy to harm anyone who gets in the way of this fun.

So c Now I see that Edith Wharton is a true master of the craft. So can it still be innocent? Though it spans years and continents, there is something very claustrophobic about this novel. While in its grip the world is a particular one, the upper classes and the nouveau riche and some not terrifically wealthy French royalty thrown in. Sometimes I feel like I need to open a window and breathe some real air.

But I imagine it is an intended effect.

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There are many characters both fully drawn and rich in symbolism who come alive in the chapters of this book, complex, flawed and interesting and I found that I cared about them though I can't say I found many terribly likable. I suppose Undine's three husbands had their warmth, sensitivity and charm not all at the same time or in that order.

And I fear for her son, but have hope for him, too. There is a curious point in the middle of the novel somewhere where Wharton offers up a certain position she is exploring as to the effects on American women of these wealthier classes of having so little to do with and so little understanding of their husbands'' worlds of business. Undine is a memorable anti-heroine, not blood-thirsty exactly, but chillingly selfish.

She does learn a few things in the course of the novel, but none having to do with compassion or empathy. I'm very surprised there hasn't been a movie or BBC series done of this. Oy the whiteness of it all. May 18, Elizabeth Alaska rated it really liked it Shelves: The custom of the country: Well, that's sort of the premise. It's certainly true for Undine Spragg, our main character. She is irresistibly beautiful, it seems, and men are attracted to her like moths to a flame on a summer evening.

Money is essential to Undine - essential to making sure the right people notice her, because b The custom of the country: Money is essential to Undine - essential to making sure the right people notice her, because being noticed by the right people is the purpose of Undine's life. I couldn't help but be exasperated with her. She is such a shallow, shallow person. I complain when authors give us only one-dimensional characters. In this case, it is because the character is truly one-dimensional and Wharton presents her perfectly.

There is more to say about Undine, but the only way I know of doing so would be a spoiler. The minor characters are, for the most part, also well-drawn and, of course, Wharton's setting of "society" completes the picture. I waffled between 4- and 5-stars. Ask me on a different day, it might be a different answer. It feels too long since I've read Edith Wharton and it was a pleasure to return.

The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton

I hope I don't wait too long again for the next one. Jun 24, Kim rated it really liked it Shelves: I can see that Edith Wharton and I will be spending a lot more time together. The heroine of the story, Undine Spragg, is a spoiled, shallow, self-centered, conniving social climber. She is supremely unsympathetic, equally as fascinating as she is repellent. Her goal is to position herself within privileged society and she pursues this end with ruthless determination.

But as the saying goes, you should be careful what you wish for. Undine finds that marrying into "the right" fa An excellent book. Her restless, acquisitive nature always drives her to seek more and better. The Custom of the Country is a pointed commentary on the role of women and the acceptable social norms of the time. 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, 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. 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.

The upper stratum of New York society into which Edith Wharton was born in 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. Fiction Classics Literary Fiction Category: Fiction Classics Literary Fiction. Also by Edith Wharton. See all books by Edith Wharton.