Edith Wharton was a keen observer of society and a chronicler of her times. There's an elegance and clarity to her writing that makes her stories thoughtful, biting, witty, (and yes) beautifully sad.

Considered by many to be one of her finest works, Edith Wharton's The Custom of the Country is a scathing examination of the exploits and follies of the modern upper class.

The Custom of the Country tells of the fortunes of one of the most appalling and fascinating heroines Wharton ever created: Undine Spragg.

Undine is a fortune-seeker from the Midwest, upwardly mobile, quick to learn, and ambitious for admiration and social glory.

She is a force of nature.

Her beauty is fatal.

Through marriage after marriage, she conquers the Midwest, New York, and Europe.

Will she ever meet an obstacle to her rapacious desires? You have to read on, literally to the last line, to find out.

Praised by critics for its realism and candor, The Custom of the Country was one of Wharton's personal favorites, and remains as relevant today as when it was first published.

EDITH WHARTON (1862-1937), one of the greatest American authors, transformed the art of fiction. The Pulitzer Prize winning author of numerous novels and short stories, including The House of Mirth, Ethan Frome, The Age of Innocence, and The Descent of Man, she is considered to be a literary colossus, and a central figure in the development of the modern novel.

 "Perhaps, the greatest female novelist that America has yet produced."

—Cynthia Griffin Wolff