The House of Mirth

In the first novel to establish the reputation of this Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Wharton introduces Lily Bart, a poor relation of a wealthy woman who is hopelessly addicted to the pleasures of the moneyed world of luxury and grace. Ironically, it is her delicacy of taste and moral sensibility that render her unfit for survival in this world. Anna Quindlen writes a new Introduction.