The House of Mirth
House of Mirth, The,novel by Edith Wharton, published in 1905.
Although she has beauty and charm and is related to prominent New York families, Lily Bart is unmarried at 29. Ambitious for wealth and position, she makes a career of her search for a husband, and among her suitors are Simon Rosedale, a vulgar rich Jew, and Lawrence Selden, a lawyer who is the one love of her life but lacks the wealth she requires. Gambling at a house party, she loses a large sum to Gus Trenor, who undertakes to invest her small capital, gaining power over her by advancing money from his own pocket, although she does not realize this until later. His demand that she satisfy his passion by way of repayment frightens Lily, but she manages to escape and promises to return the money. She goes on a yachting trip to the Mediterranean in a party headed by George Dorset, whose wife Bertha conceals a meeting with her lover by accusing Lily of being George's mistress. The...
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