Publisher's Synopsis
""The Custom of the Country"" is a novel written by Edith Wharton, published in 1913. The story follows the life of a young woman named Undine Spragg, who comes from a small town in the Midwest and aspires to climb the social ladder in New York City. She is beautiful, ambitious, and determined to marry into high society. Undine marries Ralph Marvell, a wealthy and cultured young man from an old New York family, but she quickly becomes dissatisfied with her new life and begins to pursue other men. Undine's desire for wealth and status leads her to marry again and again, each time abandoning her previous husband and child. She travels to Europe and becomes involved with a French aristocrat, but her attempts to gain social acceptance are ultimately thwarted. Undine's selfishness and lack of moral values lead to her downfall, as she is left alone and rejected by the society she so desperately sought to join. Wharton's novel is a scathing critique of American society and its obsession with wealth and status. It explores themes of marriage, social mobility, and the corrupting influence of money. ""The Custom of the Country"" is considered one of Wharton's most important works and a classic of American literature.In the quiet place with the green water-fall Ralph's vision might have kept faith with him; but how could he hope to surprise it in the midsummer crowds of St. Moritz? Undine, at any rate, had found there what she wanted; and when he was at her side, and her radiant smile included him, every other question was in abeyance. But there were hours of solitary striding over bare grassy slopes, face to face with the ironic interrogation of sky and mountains, when his anxieties came back, more persistent and importunate. Sometimes they took the form of merely material difficulties.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.
