The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

Taking place in the early 1900's in New York City, this novel tells the story of Lily Bart, who is beautiful, formerly rich, and determined to marry well so that she can be rich again. To accomplish this, she moves in the highest levels of the smart society, all the while running up debts. However, she is more aware than she should be of the shallowness of her endeavors, and consequently (and often subconsciously) sabotages her own efforts, just when a man is ready to propose. Her one "spiritual" match is not rich enough to allow her to be a part of the world she has been schooled to desire. Through circumstance and her own unwise actions, she falls down the rungs of the ladder of society, until her only opportunity for redemption is to blackmail her chief adversary. And then....

Edith Wharton is so subtle, so understated, that it is difficult to understand how she creates sympathy for this character, but she does. The reader comes to understand that Lily has been created: "Inherited tendencies had combined with early training to make her the highly specialized product she was." I was reminded of child stars of television and movies, who achieve fame early and undoubtedly are treated like royalty. Then, when they are not so cute anymore and fall from popularity, they quite often self-destruct.

This novel tells an interesting and suspenseful story, but what makes it classic is the writing, which is elegant. (That's the most appropriate word for it that I can come up with.) The pace is slow, but the sentences are perfect, revealing so much through nuance and suggestion. This is not fast reading--I often had to read passages twice to understand what actually happened. Thus, I would not recommend it to those who are pressed for time or who are not accustomed to reading "pre-modern" literature.