pdsak 's review for:

The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

4.0

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Someone in book club said, ‘80 pages in, it starts getting good.’ True, it took a long time to grab me and for me to understand what was going on. Loved the writing later, rather than early. A view into privilege and wealth. I thought the view of the time period was well written. Some women were conniving, lest another woman took their ‘place’ or didn’t deserve a position — according to them. It was sad. She was an orphan, without guidance. No parents or even extended family to help guide Lili. While she seemed to be smart and willing to try new viewpoints, she also had low self-esteem, despite her obvious beauty and feeling like she’d been born for just one purpose - to marry and be wealthy. She and Selden were a disconnect in every sense of the word, despite the fact that they loved each other very much. Mars versus Venus. I hate that no one, except Lili took responsibility for their misdeeds; that was pretty pathetic. But at the same time, you have to grow some of those skills yourself; with family that supports you and good friends, even in 1905. Yes, I get it...life was different then. One thing I really enjoyed was the timeline, in the front of the book that showed all the technology and mechanical advances during Wharton’s life and politics in play during that time - that was fascinating. Highly recommended. Maybe even a 5❣️