69. Edith Wharton, THE HOUSE OF MIRTH

I expected to like this after THE AGE OF INNOCENCE and, although it took a long enough time to pick up, I found it hard to put down afterwards. Whartonian/ Jamesian New York has a lot of characteristics that appeal to me (the importance of letters, long descriptions of dresses) even among those that don't (the insistence on having a man, for example!) Lily Bart is my kind of heroine. I can't even think of this book as a tragedy because of the way she held her damn head up the entire time. I wish I could have done the same when similar things happened to me.

Ellen vs. the Modern Library: 31-69