The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

 

Publication Date: October 14, 1905

Length: 236 pages

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

This was my second book for the Classics Club and also one of my January Historical Fiction Reading Challenge choices. I've had it in my Kindle forever and always wanted to tackle it. I sort of have a love/hate relationship with some of the classics: when I am immersed in the story, I really love it. But when I want to just zone out and am tired I get stressed about reading them because they require so much concentration. This book was not terribly difficult but it did stretch my vocabulary and made me ponder some deep ideas about life and what is important. And that is why the classics are, well, classics! 

Lily Bart is faking her way through life when we meet her at the beginning of the story. She is twenty-nine years old (a veritable Old Maid by the standards of the day) and looking desperately for a husband who can keep her styled in the manner she has become accustomed to. She is attracted to Lawrence Selden, a friend who is privy to the society she revolves in, but cannot act upon this attraction as he is not wealthy enough to suit her. While this sounds shallow and cruel, it is honest, and Lily does not pretend otherwise. She sets her sights upon the well to do Percy Gryce, despite the fact that she is not in love with him and finds him to be a tedious bore. Her desperation to continue to fund her lifestyle choices, including debts incurred from the game of bridge, cause her to ignore her feelings for Selden and nearly marry Gryce. 

Just when she is set to accept a proposal from Gryce, Lily is the subject of scandalous rumors which serve to change his mind about marrying her. Adrift again and in debt, Lily begins to involve herself with the husband of her friend Judy, igniting consequences which will later prove to be disastrous. As she continues down this path she finds she is becoming persona non grata in the upper echelons of society and as she resorts to spending time with other "friends" who are further down the ladder of wealth and importance, her reputation suffers.

When an unexpected opportunity to go on a cruise with her wealthy friends arises, Lily accepts and things turn against her. She tries to redeem herself in other ways and continues to find people to support her, even a man who proposes marriage, but each time her bad decisions and vacillation between what she wants and what is possible serve to complicate her life with tragic results.

I found this story to be a bit depressing. It is well written of course, as most classics are, and the vocabulary of these writers from long ago always amazes me. Almost from the start of the book I didn't care for Lily. She seems shallow and entitled, as if the finer things are owed to her because she expects them. I can see how some of my feelings are clouded by the time and social class I live in and that the point of the story is to see how money and status are fleeting, and not something to be pursued at the expense of one's own happiness and obtained by giving your soul to the highest bidder. I guess I didn't feel sorry for her in the sense that she had opportunities for what she wanted but continued to squander them. Without giving away too much of the later part of the book, I'll just say that her downward spiral wasn't entirely surprising.

I do like the peek into the customs and expectations of the time. My great grandmother, who I knew well, was born in 1904 so right around the time this book was published. Of course she was not rich or even a city dweller but it is fun to see what life would have been like for a well bred young woman of her day. There were not a lot of options if you wanted to have a nice, carefree life. Marriage as quickly as possible to a man of means was a necessity. But when I think of my great grandmother's life in rural Texas on a farm, I think she probably was much happier and content than Lily in her aristocratic New York world. 

The book could sometimes drag a bit and repeat itself, I think it could have been much shorter. But Wharton does a great job of building things slowly as to really see how Lily's circumstances deteriorate. I'm not sure if I will read another of her books anytime soon as some of the plot lines don't interest me. But I'm glad to have read this one to understand why it is so popular. It is timeless in its theme of being careful not to let materialism and societal acceptance cloud your better judgement. 

Can't Wait Wednesday: The Granddaughters of Edward III by Kathryn Warner

 It's time for another Can't Wait Wednesday hosted by Tressa at WishfulEndings. I love this weekly post because it is simple yet productive in that it promotes up and coming books and authors who are publishing something in the next few months. I love going onto NetGalley and seeing great books and being able to share the ones I'm excited about. This week I have chosen a non-fiction book that looks fascinating to me. It's The Granddaughters of Edward III by Kathryn Warner. 

I think the Edward eras are often overlooked due to the overabundance of literature and history on the Tudors and Victoria. So anytime I see a story about them I'm usually interested. The fact that this book zeros in on the women descendants makes this book very appealing. I will definitely be looking forward to it! 

February 28, 2023

*I'm only finding it for sale in the UK so that might be a bit of an issue. Hopefully it will be available in the US on Amazon Kindle soon.

Biographies/Memoirs/History

232 pages

Book description courtesy of NetGalley

Edward III may be known for his restoration of English kingly authority after the disastrous and mysterious fall of his father, Edward II, and eventual demise of his mother, Queen Isabella. It was Edward III who arguably put England on the map as a military might. This show of power and strength was not simply through developments in government, success in warfare or the establishment of the Order of the Garter, which fused ideals of chivalry and national identity to form camaraderie between king and peerage. The expansion of England as a formidable European powerhouse was also achieved through the traditional lines of political marriages, particularly those of the king of England’s own granddaughters.

This is a joint biography of nine of those women who lived between 1355 and 1440, and their dramatic, turbulent lives. One was queen of Portugal and was the mother of the Illustrious Generation; one married into the family of her parents' deadly enemies and became queen of Castile; one became pregnant by the king of England's half-brother while married to someone else, and her third husband was imprisoned for marrying her without permission; one was widowed at about 24 when her husband was summarily beheaded by a mob, and some years later bore an illegitimate daughter to an earl; one saw her marriage annulled so that her husband could marry a Bohemian lady-in-waiting; one was born illegitimate, had sixteen children, and was the grandmother of two kings of England.

Sad Cypress by Agatha Christie: A Hercule Poirot Mystery (Read Christie 2023 January Selection)

Publication Date: March 1939

Length:  256 pages

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was the January book for this year's Read Christie 2023 challenge and one I'd never heard of. My immediate reaction upon seeing it was that I loved the cover and the title. Sometimes that alone is enough to make me happy to read something. Silly I know, but since there are whole Instagram pages dedicated to pretty book covers, I know I'm in good company! It is short and I was able to read it within a couple of days and considering I'm a teacher who just went back this week after two lazy weeks off for Christmas, I'm pretty proud of myself to have finished it already.  The challenge is a lot of fun and I'm excited to see the upcoming books with their methods and motives theme this year. As you can see from my rating.....I absolutely loved it.

Elinor Carlisle has been accused of murdering her romantic rival, Mary Gerrard. Upon the death of Elinor's Aunt Laura, she had expected to receive a sizeable fortune and share it with the object of her desire, Roddy Welman. When Roddy becomes infatuated with Mary, Elinor sees her life plan going up in smoke. Wishing her dead, Elinor is nonetheless in shock to find Mary actually deceased from an overdose of what appears to be morphine. The nurse caring for her sickly aunt believes it is the vial she misplaced and as events unfold, Elinor is accused of deliberately lacing sandwiches Mary ate with the lethal dose. Because so many could also have had access to the vial there are many theories as to who could have done it and why, but Elinor seems to be the most likely culprit.

Hercule Poirot is called in to investigate the case by Aunt Laura's physician who is in love with Elinor. He is unsure of her guilt but doesn't care as long as Poirot can find some means of assuring her acquittal. Poirot agrees to consult but only to find out the truth, whether it exonerates Elinor or otherwise. He begins by questioning all involved including Elinor, Roddy, the Nurse, and Peter Lord, the physician. As he continues to uncover the clues to the real murderer, Poirot begins to wonder if one of the players is not actually who they claim to be. And if that may be the motive behind the crime itself. 

This story is the first Christie novel in which there is a reveal through courtroom drama. It had a different feel to it because of that and it reminded me more of today's crime novels. There are three parts to the book: the crime, the interrogation of the suspects by Poirot, and the courtroom testimony. I liked how this was organized as it gave a clear picture of each person's involvement, culminating with an air of excitement "down to the wire" for Elinor's fate. 

Poirot does not come into the book until the middle part and so the first is slow building with character development of the suspects and their thoughts. I liked how we enter Elinor's head quite often and could really sense her bewilderment at what she'd been conspiring with what actually happened. For the reader it created a sense of sympathy for her and made me root for the truth to be exposed. 

This was a really good mystery plot and had an interesting conclusion. There were some medical elements that made it hard to figure out and kept me guessing for sure. I enjoyed it immensely and am now looking forward to February's Christie book.