About this title: Published in 1905, Edith Wharton''s first novel, THE HOUSE OF MIRTH, navigates the murky waters of class-bound courtship and marriage in turn-of-the-century upper-crust Manhattan. Ironic, sharp, and tragic, the novel follows beautiful, orphaned Lily Bart in her search for a rich husband--the only route open to her if she is to survive in a ruthlessly materialistic world. Mercilessly, Wharton exposes the cruelty and indifference of a society in which such a woman has no role except to be exploited and looked down upon. Nor does she neglect to expose the vanity and delusions of poor Lily herself--qualities that undermine her considerable intelligence and charm. As always, Wharton is writing about a world she knows first-hand, and one in which she suffered her own trials. The complex and poignant tale of Lily Bart is one of her most popular and successful novels
Charity va ser portada de la Muntanya quan era petita. No conserva cap record de la seva vida anterior, a banda dels rumors vagues de la gent de North Dormer, un poble allunyat i perdut de tot i de tothom.Larribada de Lucius Harney, un jove arquitecte de la ciutat, un tedios dia destiu, descobrira a Charity la il·lusio de lamor i del desig, aixi com una realitat diferent a la que sempre havia viscut. Tot i aixo, la promesa del somni es veura molt aviat frustrada pel pes inevitable de la realitat i les seves vicissituds.
Landa eremuko herrixka batean gertatzen da istorioa, idazleak asmatutako Starkfield herrian, hain zuzen ere (Massachusetts). Maitasun istorio ezinezko bat kontatzen du, Ethan Frome gaztearen eta hura baino zenbait urte zaharragoa den Zeena gaixobera eta mesfidatiaren arteko ezkon bizitza ilauna abiapuntu hartuta. Senar-emazteek ez dute seme-alabarik eta Mattie Silver, Zeenaren lehengusina gaztea, etxean hartzen dute neskame, umezurtza baita. Hemen kontatzen den triangelua, beste norbaiten eskutan, erraz izan zitekeen melodrama bat edo maitasun istorio eskas bat. Whartonek, aldiz, balio literario handiko obra osatu zuen: atmosfera iradokitzaileak eta gozoak sortzen ditu hizkuntza zehatza eta zenbaitetan poesiatik hurbilekoa baliatuz, eta pertsonaiak, itxuraz soilak badira ere, nortasun handiz hornitzen ditu, introspekzio psikologiko nabarmenaz.
The first of Edith Wharton's works depicting life in "old New York", The Touchstone is an acutely observed novella , and an exploration of the tension between self-serving opportunism and the desire
An extraordinarily well-observed dissection of New York's high society in the 1870s - the world Edith Wharton grew up in - The Age of Innocence shines a critical light on the social mores and values of the old order." Here presented with extra material and annotations.
Nineteenth-century New England villager Ethan Frome is tormented by his love for his ailing wife's cousin. Trapped, he may ultimately be destroyed by that which offers his greatest chance at happiness. Includes a new Afterword. Revised reissue.
