Wharton's sly and delicious novel about the ambitious social ascent of
Undine Spragg, now in a Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition, with a foreword
by Sofia Coppola
A Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition
Considered by many to be her masterpiece, Edith Wharton's second
full-length work is a scathing yet personal examination of the exploits
and follies of the modern upper class. As she unfolds the story of
Undine Spragg, from New York to Europe, Wharton affords us a detailed
glimpse of what might be called the interior décor of this America and
its nouveau riche fringes. Through a heroine who is as vain, spoiled,
and selfish as she is irresistibly fascinating, and through a most
intricate and satisfying plot that follows Undine's marriages and
affairs, she conveys a vision of social behavior that is both supremely
informed and supremely disenchanted.