The House of Mirth

Resumen del libro

A black comedy of manners about vast wealth and a woman who can define herself only through the perceptions of others. The beautiful Lily Bart lives among the nouveaux riches of New York City-people whose millions were made in railroads, shipping, land speculation, and banking. In this morally and aesthetically bankrupt world, Lily, age twenty-nine, seeks a husband who can satisfy her cravings for endless admiration and all the trappings of wealth. Her quest comes to a scandalous end when she is accused of being the mistress of a wealthy man. Exiled from her familiar world of artificial conventions, Lily finds life impossible. Lily Bart is the embodiment of woman as a passive creature, as the ultimate "consumer item." In her introduction, Cynthia Griffin Wolff relates the genesis of this character to the circumstances of Edith Wharton's own life.

Biografía del autor

Edith Wharton (1862-1937) nació en Nueva York, en el seno de una familia adinerada y distinguida, y es considerada una de las más grandes escritoras estadounidenses. Fue la primera mujer galardonada con un Premio Pulitzer. "La edad de la inocencia" fue llevada a la pantalla por Martin Scorsese en 1993, protagonizada por Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer y Winona Ryder. Otras obras de la autora en Alianza Editorial: "Estío", "Ethan Frome" y "Las hermanas Bunner".