The Custom of the Country

Edith Wharton

Mar 2011 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Lorna Raver

About this audiobook

From New York to Europe, the apartments of the nouveau riche to ancient French estates, Edith Wharton tells the story of Undine Spragg, a girl from a Midwestern town with unquenchable social aspirations. Though Undine is narcissistic, pampered, and incredibly selfish, she is a beguiling heroine whose marital initiation into New York high society from its trade-wealthy fringes is only the beginning of her relentless ambitions. Wharton weaves an elaborate plot that renders a detailed depiction of upper-class social behavior in the early twentieth century. By utilizing a character with inexorable greed in a novel of manners, she demonstrates some of the customs of a modern age and posits a surprising explanation for divorce and the social role of women, which still resonates for the modern audience today.

About the author

Edith Wharton (1862–1937), the author of such classics as The Age of Innocence, The House of Mirth, and The Custom of the Country, is best known for her "society novels," in which she analyzed the changing scene of fashionable American life in contrast to that of Old Europe.

Lorna Raver has received numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards and has been nominated for the coveted Audie Award for her audiobook narrations.