The Custom of the Country

Edith Wharton

Summary

The Custom of the Country is a 1913 tragicomedy of manners novel by American Edith Wharton. It tells the story of Undine Spragg, a Midwestern girl who attempts to ascend in New York City society. Edith Wharton (1862 – 1937) was an American novelist, short story writer, and designer. Wharton drew upon her insider's knowledge of the upper class New York "aristocracy" to realistically portray the lives and morals of the Gilded Age. In 1921, she became the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Literature. She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1996.

Available since: 07/31/2020.

Other books that might interest you

Orthodoxy

G. K. Chesterton

Orthodoxy (1908) is a book by G. K. Chesterton that has become a classic of Christian apologetics. Chesterton considered this book a companion to his other work, Heretics. In the book's preface Chesterton states the purpose is to "attempt an explanation, not of whether the Christian Faith can be believed, but of how he personally has come to believe it." In it, Chesterton presents an original view of Christian religion. He sees it as the answer to natural human needs, the "answer to a riddle" in his own words, and not simply as an arbitrary truth received from somewhere outside the boundaries of human experience.

Show book

The Lemesurier Inheritance

Agatha Christie

In Agatha Christie’s short story, The Lemesurier Inheritance,” Poirot and Hastings are asked to keep an eye on the heir of a Northumberland estate. The house, thought to be cursed since the Middle Ages, is the locale of several recent near-death accidents for the young boy and rumors of the curse increase. But is it possible the accidents are man-made? This short story originally appeared in the December 19, 1923 issue of The Sketch magazine.

Show book

Alchemist The (Unabridged)

H.P. Lovecraft

"The Alchemist" is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft, written in 1908, when Lovecraft was 17 or 18, and first published in the November 1916 issue of the United Amateur.Plot summary:The story is recounted by the protagonist, Count Antoine de C-, in the first person. Hundreds of years ago, Antoine's noble ancestor was responsible for the death of a dark wizard, Michel Mauvais. The wizard's son, Charles le Sorcier, swore revenge on not only him but all his descendants, cursing them to die on reaching the age of 32...

Show book

A Longbourn Quartet - An...

Catherine Bilson

Four short stories set in the beloved world of Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice which explore missing scenes and paths not taken in the original story.
A Slip and a Trip
This little Mis-step takes place at the dance at Lucas Lodge, at which Elizabeth declines Darcy’s offer of a dance. Though in canon, Jane and Bingley aren’t mentioned as even being present, they must surely have been there.
The Darcy Inquisition
The Scene: Darcy’s house in London, a week post-Hunsford. Darcy has lapsed into despair; Georgiana, fearing for him, has called for her cousin Colonel Fitzwilliam to help. They intend to interrogate Darcy to find out what is wrong, but somehow things go slightly awry.
Based on selected nuggets from the wonderful Monty Python sketches of The Spanish Inquisition.
Incidentally, did you know that one of Jane Austen’s suggestions for Colonel Fitzwilliam’s first name was Montgomery? That discovery inspired this whole ficlet…
Mr. Bennet’s Call
This is my imagining of a scene omitted from P&P: in the original work, we discover that Mr Bennet paid a call upon Bingley when he teases Mrs Bennet about not being able to escape the acquaintance. I found myself wondering, what was said in that call?
The Exception That Proves The Rule
You know the rule. Eavesdroppers rarely hear good of themselves.
So, this is a what-if one-shot that is intended to be the exception to that rule.
Our little tale begins at Netherfield, while Elizabeth is there nursing Jane. Elizabeth comes downstairs to dispatch the letter to her mother, requesting that the carriage be sent to collect them. Of course, she must ask Mr Bingley for the use of a rider to convey the message to Longbourn, and so she goes looking for him.

Show book

50 Ghost and Horror masterpieces...

Various authors

This book contains the following works arranged alphabetically by authors last namesThe Mysterious Mansion [Honoré de Balzac]The Tomb of Heiri [Arthur Christopher Benson]Chickamauga [Ambrose Bierce] An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge [Ambrose Bierce]The Death of Halpin Frayser [Ambrose Bierce]A Halloween Wraith [William Black]The Goblin's Collection [Algernon Blackwood]The Wood of the Dead [Algernon Blackwood]Let Loose [Mary Cholmondeley]The Horror of the Heights [Arthur Conan Doyle]The Lift [Arthur Conan Doyle]The Terror of Blue John Gap [Arthur Conan Doyle]Captain Murderer [Charles Dickens]The Trial for Murder [Charles Dickens]Cold Ghost [Chester S. Geier]Fragments from the Journal of a Solitary Man [Nathaniel Hawthorne]The Devil in Manuscript [Nathaniel Hawthorne]The Adventure of the German Student [Washington Irving]Rip Van Winkle [Washington Irving]The Romance of Certain Old Clothes [Henry James]The City Of Dreadful Night [Rudyard Kipling]The Untold Sequel to the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde [Frances Little]Hypnos [H.P Lovecraft]Nyarlathotep [H.P Lovecraft]The Tomb [H.P Lovecraft]Dagon [H.P Lovecraft]The Cats of Ulthar [H.P Lovecraft]The Devil [Guy de Maupassant]Who Knows? [Guy de Maupassant]When I was Dead [Vincent O'Sullivan]Doom of the House of Duryea [Earl Peirce]The Yellow Wallpaper [Charlotte Perkins Gilman]The Masqued Red Death [Edgar Allan Poe]The Black Cat [Edgar Allan Poe]Silence: A Fable [Edgar Allan Poe]The Tell Tale Heart [Edgar Allan Poe]The Room of Mirrors [Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch]The Mystery of Joseph Laquedem [Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch]The Wolves of Cernogratz [Saki] An account of some strange disturbances in Aungier Street [Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu]Dracula's Guest [Bram Stoker]The Squaw [Bram Stoker]The Dualists [Bram Stoker]The Valley of Spiders [H.G Wells]The Sea Raiders [H.G Wells]The Red Room [H.G Wells]Jimmy Goggles the God [H.G Wells]The Eyes [Edith Wharton]The Wind in the Rose-Bush [Mary E. Wilkins Freeman]The Substitute [Georgia Wood Pangborn]

Show book

Morton Hall

Elizabeth Gaskell

"Morton Hall" (1853) is a story written by Elizabeth Gaskell, one of the leading representatives of British literature of the Victorian era. The book weaves together many different elements from the description of ancient houses and noble lineages to the commemoration of historical events, all with the background of childhood memories of the protagonists. This text has the ability to offer a wide reflection on social and Political Affairs of England: Elizabeth Gaskell traces back several vicissitudes until they reach the intestine foiled attack on King James I, Cromwell's Protectorate, the so-called witch hunt, until you get to touch the social and cultural revolution produced by colonial politics.
 
In this short-story there is everything : the role of women in society and in the process of formation of children, ways considered more suited to its educator function, until detailed depictions of torture, humor, mental illness often found themselves inside the England of that time. These reasons they do fall under the genre of tales of thrill, with continuous references to ghosts, witches and superstition of the demonic element...

Show book