The Custom of the CountryThe classic satire of New York society and the American Dream through the misadventures of an insatiable young striver Ambitious and wholeheartedly materialistic, Undine Spragg is a beautiful heiress who sees men as a means to an end. New York millionaires and French aristocrats fall at her feet, but each conquest is merely a stepping-stone in Undine’s quest for power and position—and in her elusive search for happiness. A biting satire from one of America’s greatest writers, The Custom of the Country features a compelling and driven antiheroine, a sharp-eyed critique of the marriage market and its objectification of women, and a knowing send-up of Gilded Age snobbery. |
Contents
Section 18 | 303 |
Section 19 | 310 |
Section 20 | 316 |
Section 21 | 325 |
Section 22 | 335 |
Section 23 | 355 |
Section 24 | 361 |
Section 25 | 372 |
Section 9 | 176 |
Section 10 | 186 |
Section 11 | 216 |
Section 12 | 223 |
Section 13 | 241 |
Section 14 | 257 |
Section 15 | 265 |
Section 16 | 272 |
Section 17 | 285 |
Section 26 | 379 |
Section 27 | 389 |
Section 28 | 400 |
Section 29 | 410 |
Section 30 | 427 |
Section 31 | 441 |
Section 32 | 457 |
Section 33 | 471 |
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Common terms and phrases
ain't amused answer Apex asked began better Binch Bowen chair Charles Dickens Clare Van Degen course D. H. Lawrence Dagonet daugh daughter dinner divorce door drawing-room dress drew Driscoll Elmer Moffatt eyes face Fairford father feel felt Fyodor Dostoevsky gave girl glance guess hand Harry Lipscomb heard Heeny Heeny's husband Indiana Jane Austen Jim Driscoll knew ladies laugh Laura lips Lipscomb look Mabel Madame de Trézac marriage married Marvell's masseuse mother murmured never Nouveau Luxe once Paris Paul Paul's paused Peter Van Degen Popple Popple's Princess Ralph Marvell Raymond de Chelles Rolliver round Roviano Saint Désert seemed sense Shallum silence smile Spragg St Moritz stared stood suppose talk tell there's things thought tion told tone turned Undine Undine's Washington Square What's wife woman York young