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The Custom of the Country

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The Custom of the Country

By: Edith Wharton
Narrated by: Laurel Lefkow
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About this listen

Single-minded and spoilt, Undine Spragg arrives in New York determined to procure for herself a social status to match her family’s wealth. Ambition, greed and an arresting beauty soon secure her path to marriage...and also to divorce.

The Custom of the Country (1913) is a sophisticated commentary on both—touching on the implications for a woman of ending a marriage at a time when the author herself was navigating that very situation. As the splendidly mismatched Undine and Ralph travel to Europe, Wharton contrasts the pecuniary motivation of the nouveau riche in America with European ideals of tradition, and through her array of characters and subtle insights into society, she delivers a novel every bit as immersive and entertaining as The Age of Innocence.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

Public Domain (P)2022 Naxos AudioBooks UK Ltd.
Classics Fiction Women's Fiction Marriage

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Pure Wharton wit with lashings of irony.

For capturing the foibles and follies of the never satisfied always yearning beauties of New York nobody comes close. She nails them to the cross of their destinies in lusciously cruel sentences and a rich and compelling narrative.

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.