The Custom Of The Country

The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton is a novel that was first published in 1913. The book tells the story of a young woman named Undine Spragg who comes from a small town in the Midwest and moves to New York City with her parents in search of wealth and social status. Undine is ambitious and determined to climb the social ladder, and she quickly sets her sights on marrying into the upper echelons of society.Undine is beautiful and charming, but she is also selfish and materialistic. She has little regard for the feelings of others and is willing to do whatever it takes to get what she wants. She marries Ralph Marvell, a wealthy young man from a prominent family, but she quickly becomes dissatisfied with their life together. Undine is frustrated by Ralph's lack of ambition and his reluctance to pursue a career in politics.Undine leaves Ralph and begins a series of affairs with other men, including a French aristocrat named Raymond de Chelles. She eventually marries a wealthy businessman named Elmer Moffatt, but their marriage is unhappy and tumultuous. Undine's desire for social status and material wealth ultimately leads to her downfall, and she is left alone and unhappy at the end of the novel.The Custom of the Country is a biting satire of the American upper class and their obsession with wealth and social status. It is a portrait of a woman who is both a victim and a victimizer, and it offers a scathing critique of the values and priorities of American society at the turn of the 20th century.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.