The House of Mirth
- First published
- 1905
- Reading level
- Plain English
- Price
- Free
About the book
"The House of Mirth" by Edith Wharton is a novel published in 1905. It follows Lily Bart, a beautiful but impoverished woman navigating New York City's high society in the 1890s. As twenty-nine-year-old Lily seeks a husband to secure her future, she faces a slow two-year social descent from privilege toward the margins of society. Wharton crafts a sharp tragedy that exposes the moral corruption of an irresponsible upper class that casually destroys what is most beautiful within it.
- New York (N.Y.)
- Psychological fiction
- Single women
- Social classes
Updated September 2026. Public domain in the USA. Text and summary from Project Gutenberg eBook #284. The House of Mirth on Wikipedia.
