23 United States – The House of Mirth – Edith Wharton (Score 7.25)

I really enjoyed this story of the inexorable decline of a young woman from “Society” to near destitution. I won’t tell you the details of the ending so as not to spoil the story for you if you decide to read it.

Selden, and Miss Lily Bart, appear separately in the first sentence of the book. He knows her, but is surprised to see her in town, in New York, in Grand Central Station.

He walks towards her, and she spots him. From his thoughts we learn that she is a “Society” lady. She is pleased to see him. It is clear that they don’t meet each other very often.

He leads her to his nearby house for a cup of tea. She is apparently about 29, but her attitudes seem to be those of a 21^st century girl of about 16.

On page 18 we have Selden’s “caravan” tea. Russian caravan tea is available in Edinburgh. This is the first time I have seen it mentioned in literature.

The “Sarum Rule”, mentioned on page 21 is a Roman liturgy.

American “Society” seems to have been like that in 18^th century English literature – very snobby, revolving largely round dinner parties and “getting one up” on one’s rivals in the hostessing field.

Wharton wrote in a leisurely, descriptive, style which I am finding most enjoyable. She does not rush – she seems to choose her words very carefully to achieve the very best effect. Another difference between Wharton and more modern writers is that she sets the ambiance more clearly – see, for example, the opening paragraphs of Chapter VI.

We follow Lily Bart through the “Society” season, watching her plans to obtain a husband and her failing as a result of both chance and her own occasional ineptness.

We see much of the vacuous life led by these people, and it is clear that Lily knows little of the lives of the ordinary people whom she sees vaguely as she wafts through life, still managing to keep afloat.

I wonder if Mrs Wharton had much idea of how ordinary people lived since she, herself, was very much part of “Society”. The introduction tells us that she was born “Edith Jones” and that her father’s family was the Jones with whom everyone tried to keep up.

On page 18 we read “… the sense of being important among the insignificant was enough to restore to Miss Bart the gratifying consciousness of power. Much as I like her, and feel for her, she really is a snob. She is a product of her birth, and a victim thereof.

A propos my comment earlier, Miss Bart finally comes into close contact with poor people through her friend Gerty Farish who is involved with a charitable organisation for young women. Lily finds this a real eye-opener.

A lot of Lily’s problems caused by the misapprehensions of other people are caused by the coincidence of place where someone could, deliberately or unintentionally cause her harm by tale telling.

At the end of Part 1 the Dorsets invite Lily to go on a Mediterranean cruise with them. This turns out to be the cause of her mistakes, other people’s nastiness, and the final cause of her downfall. Lily is eventually sent home at very short notice (immediately) by Mrs Dorset. The situation is such that Lily is snubbed by most of those she considered to be her friends.

Eventually, after the blow of having been disinherited (apart from $10,000) by her aunt on her deathbed (as a direct result of lies promulgated about Lily) and still owing $10,000, she is invited by Mrs Fisher to come with her to a country house where she is staying. Lily, although she goes gladly enough, shows that she has learned nothing about her attitudes towards people whom she considers to be “below her”. On page 247 we see in her thoughts that “she was accepting the hospitality and courting the approval of people she had disclaimed under other circumstances.

Even towards the end she is still very much a snob.

This beautiful and well written book deserves one of the highest scores which I have awarded in nearly twelve years in the Round the World Book Group. I gave it a score of 9.5.