The House of Mirth
The House of Mirth is Edith Wharton’s second novel, first published in 1905.
The novel follows Lily Bart, a 29-year-old unmarried woman moving within New York high society. With limited money of her own, she faces intense pressure to secure economic and social stability through marriage.
The story opens at Grand Central Station, where Lily encounters Lawrence Selden while waiting for a train. Their conversation introduces both their mutual attraction and Lily’s uneasy position within the world of wealth and appearances.
Selden invites Lily to his apartment for tea. Although she is drawn to him, he cannot provide the wealth and status her society expects her to pursue. Financial mistakes, gossip, and rigid social rules gradually narrow Lily’s choices.
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Public domain (US)·No sign-up·DRM-free·Real text, not scans
Copyright note. The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton is believed to be in the public domain in the United States only. It may still be copyrighted in other countries. If you are not in the United States, please check your local laws to ensure this eBook is in the public domain in your country before downloading The House of Mirth in PDF or EPUB.
- Pages
- 349
- Reading time
- 10 hours 47 minutes
- Pace
- Intermediate
- First published
- 1905
- Language
- English
- Downloads
- 3,119
121 years later, still timely
Why Read The House of Mirth in 2026?
Ballrooms glitter until the bill arrives. Wharton follows Lily Bart through a city where social credit is currency and reputation updates hourly. Beautiful and unsparing, the novel dissects image economies and the steep price of belonging.
Today's connection
Status games and financial precarity remain entwined. This book examines how gossip functions like an algorithm and how autonomy depends on choices that may look impractical from the outside.
Gossip as system
Reputation moves like news.
Autonomy vs access
Freedom costs comfort.
Theater of manners
Performance that persuades or punishes.
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About the author
Edith Wharton
Manners, money, and freedom drawn with surgical clarity and mercy.
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From The House of Mirth
Why do we call all our generous ideas illusions, and the mean ones truths?
She had no tolerance for scenes which were not of her own making.
Don't you ever mind," she asked suddenly, "not being rich enough to buy all the books you want?
I was just a screw or cog in the great machine I called life, and when I dropped out of it I found I was of no use anywhere else.
She was so evidently the victim of the civilization which had produced her, that the links of her bracelet seemed like manacles chaining her to her fate.