The House of Mirth

"The House of Mirth" by Edith Wharton is a novel set in late 19th-century New York high society, following the life of Lily Bart, a well-born but impoverished woman navigating the social world she was raised to join. As she seeks to secure her future amid personal struggles and societal expectations, her story offers a revealing portrayal of the pressures and intricacies of upper-class life. Written in a style characteristic of the American naturalist tradition, the novel explores themes of societal constraint and individual fate.