The House of Mirth

"The House of Mirth" by Edith Wharton is a novel published in 1905. It follows Lily Bart, a beautiful but impoverished woman navigating New York City's high society in the 1890s. As twenty-nine-year-old Lily seeks a husband to secure her future, she faces a slow two-year social descent from privilege toward the margins of society. Wharton crafts a sharp tragedy that exposes the moral corruption of an irresponsible upper class that casually destroys what is most beautiful within it.

The House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton. Republished by OpenStories from Project Gutenberg eBook #284.