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Title details for The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton - Available

The Custom of the Country

by Edith Wharton
Lorna Raver
Audiobook (Includes supplementary content)
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
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.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    March 16, 2011

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781452621180
      • File size: 470853 KB
      • Duration: 16:20:56

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Edith Wharton's novels of manners seem to grow in stature as time passes. Here she draws a beautiful social climber, Undine Sprague, who is a monster of selfishness and honestly doesn't know it. Although the worlds she wants to conquer have vanished, Undine herself is amazingly recognizable. She marries well above herself twice and both times fails to recognize her husbands' strengths of character or the weakness of her own, and it is they, not she, who pay the price. Barbara Caruso can't make Undine sympathetic; no one could. But she makes her believable, quite miracle enough, and renders Undine's slash-and-burn progress toward what she thinks will make her happy utterly absorbing. B.G. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine
    • AudioFile Magazine
      Laurel Lefkow gives a stellar performance as she introduces Edith Wharton's 1913 characters to a 21st-century audience. The story features one of literature's least likable heroines, Undine Spragg. Lefkow gives her a simpering, cloying, sometimes whiny voice, which is perfectly suited to this shallow, spoiled, and self-absorbed young woman. Undine has four marriages as she ascends the social ladder, and each union is masterfully portrayed. Undine's richest husband is the crude financial tycoon Elmer Moffat. He is given a husky, folksy voice. The story is slow paced and filled with richly detailed locales. Lefkow's warm, articulate voice makes for a highly enjoyable listening experience. D.L.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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