The Custom of the Country (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. A Gilded Age Satire of Social Climbing, Marriage Markets, and Nouveau Riche AmbitionBy Edith Wharton
Length17h 10m
About this audiobook
Edith Wharton's The Custom of the Country is a brilliant social novel tracing the ascent of Undine Spragg, a restless Midwestern beauty determined to conquer New York and European high society. Written with Wharton's characteristic irony, psychological precision, and architectural control, the novel exposes marriage, money, and manners as instruments of social exchange. Published in 1913, it belongs to the great realist tradition while anticipating modern critiques of consumer culture and self-invention. Wharton, born into old New York society in 1862, understood intimately the codes, exclusions, and hypocrisies she anatomized. Her transatlantic life, unhappy marriage, and keen observation of both American ambition and European aristocratic decay inform the novel's merciless clarity. Undine's world reflects Wharton's apprehension of a changing America, where inherited standards are displaced by wealth, publicity, and appetite. This is an essential work for readers interested in literary realism, feminist ambiguity, and the moral costs of social mobility. At once satirical and tragic, The Custom of the Country remains one of Wharton's sharpest achievements, rewarding anyone drawn to novels that reveal a civilization through its most dazzling and destructive desires.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- A succinct Introduction situates the work's timeless appeal and themes.
- The Synopsis outlines the central plot, highlighting key developments without spoiling critical twists.
- A detailed Historical Context immerses you in the era's events and influences that shaped the writing.
- An Author Biography reveals milestones in the author's life, illuminating the personal insights behind the text.
- A thorough Analysis dissects symbols, motifs, and character arcs to unearth underlying meanings.
- Reflection questions prompt you to engage personally with the work's messages, connecting them to modern life.
- Hand‐picked Memorable Quotes shine a spotlight on moments of literary brilliance.
- Interactive footnotes clarify unusual references, historical allusions, and archaic phrases for an effortless, more informed read.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 4.1 (23.9K)
Includes Goodreads, LibraryThing, StoryGraph, Amazon
GenreLiterary Classics, Humor
Length17 hrs 10 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateJun 19, 2019
LanguageEnglish
Le temps de l'innocenceEdith Wharton12h 31m$1.99 · $0.00
The Ghost StoriesEdith Wharton14h 31m$1.99 · $0.00
10 American Romance ClassicsEdith Wharton, Louisa May Alcott, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry James, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Robert Barr, Grace Livingston Hill, Randall Parrish, Gene Stratton-Porter, Nathaniel Hawthorne114h 18m4.2 (12)$1.99
Tales of Old New York: A 40-Book CollectionEdith Wharton, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Herman Melville, Theodore Dreiser, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Horatio Jr. Alger, Edgar Fawcett, Grace Livingston Hill, H. C. Witwer, Myra Kelly, Clara Morris, Louis Tracy, Basil King, Arthur Stringer, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Montague Glass, Emma Speed Sampson, A. M. Williamson, C. N. Williamson, Cosmo Hamilton, Robert W. Chambers, H. C. Bunner, Louis Joseph Vance, Ellen Anderson Gholson Glasgow, Anthony Hope, John Bell Bouton, Gilbert Parker, George Barr McCutcheon, Owen Johnson, Ernest Poole, Lemuel Ely Quigg363h 31m$1.99
Italian Villas and Their Gardens (Annotated)Edith Wharton5h 54m$2 · $0.00
Mr. Jones (Annotated)Edith Wharton2h 37m4.3 (18)$2 · $0.00
Old New York (Annotated)Edith Wharton10h 18m4.0 (4K)$2 · $0.00
Edith Wharton: New Year's Day, False Dawn, The Old Maid & The Spark (4 Books in One Edition) (Annotated)Edith Wharton10h 20m4.4 (14)$2 · $0.00
The Children (Annotated)Edith Wharton12h 12m$2 · $0.00
French Ways and Their Meaning (Annotated)Edith Wharton4h 19m3.9 (488)$2 · $0.00
The Age of Innocence (Annotated)Edith Wharton13h 4m4.1 (236K)$2 · $0.00
Gesammelte Werke (Kommentiert)Edith Wharton59h 52m$2 · $0.00
Old New York (Annotated)Edith Wharton10h 20m4.2 (27)$2 · $0.00
The Age of Innocence & Old New York (Annotated)Edith Wharton21h 49m$2 · $0.00
קיץEdith Wharton6h 50m3.9 (30.8K)$12 · $0.00
VersesEdith Wharton1h 23m$2 · $0.00
SummerEdith Wharton7h 31m3.8 (23.4K)$1 · $0.00
Old New YorkEdith Wharton10h 21m4.1 (3.6K)$1 · $0.00
The Hermit and the Wild Woman, and Other StoriesEdith Wharton4h 53m3.7 (174)$2 · $0.00
La sombra de la dudaEdith Wharton3h 4m3.8 (57)$12 · $0.00
To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee12h 18m4.5 (7.4M)$29 · $0.00
These Precious DaysAnn Patchett11h 14m4.5 (45.2K)$29 · $0.00
The Great Gatsby: Original 1925 Edition (An F. Scott Fitzgerald Classic NovelFrancis Scott Fitzgerald4h 45m4.6 (9.3K)$18 · $0.00
The Complete Histories / History Plays of William Shakespeare (Annotated)William Shakespeare29h 42m4.6 (2.3K)$1.99 · $0.00
Braving the TruthRachel Held Evans11h 31m4.7 (359)$29 · $0.00
The Old Man and the Sea (Annotated)Ernest Hemingway4h 27m4.6 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00
Twelfth Night (The Unabridged Play) + The Classic Biography (Annotated)William Shakespeare, Sidney Lee16h 38m4.6 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00
Henry V (The Play, Historical Background and Analysis of the Character in the Play)William Shakespeare, William Hazlitt8h 40m4.6 (1.3K)$1 · $0.00
H. P. LOVECRAFT Ultimate Collection: Novellas, Short Stories, Poetry & Essays (Annotated)H. P. Lovecraft12h 28m4.6 (2.3K)$2 · $0.00
Time RegainedMarcel Proust15h 54m4.5 (10.6K)$2 · $0.00
TORAH - Bilingual Edition: English/Hebrew (Annotated)Max Margolis, JPS28h 26m4.6 (1K)$2 · $0.00
Betty Crocker picture cooky bookBetty Crocker, Inc. General Mills2h 13m4.5 (6.5K)$1 · $0.00
The Complete Tales of Beatrix PotterBeatrix Potter3h 36m4.5 (75K)$3 · $0.00
Crime and Punishment (The Unabridged Garnett Translation) (Annotated)Fyodor Dostoevsky24h 25m4.5 (15.4K)$1.99 · $0.00
The North American IndianEdward S. Curtis, Frederick Webb Hodge6h4.5 (1.2K)$2 · $0.00
The Picture of Dorian Gray: The Uncensored 13 Chapter Version + The Revised 20 Chapter Version (Annotated)Oscar Wilde16h 12m4.5 (2.8K)$1.99 · $0.00
Grimoire Of The Everyday WitchIsadora Lys / Virginia Santos5h 35m4.5 (3.9K)$9 · $0.00
Winnie-the-PoohAlan Alexander Milne2h 52m4.5 (401.1K)$3 · $0.00
Sitting PrettyRebekah Taussig7h 33m4.5 (18.9K)$26 · $0.00
The Poetic Edda & The Prose EddaSnorri Sturluson, Saemund Sigfusson9h 34m4.5 (4K)$1 · $0.00
Lost In TranslationAudrey Davis9h 15m4.4 (235)$17 · $0.00
Love That StoryJonathan Van Ness5h 44m4.2 (10.4K)$24 · $0.00
Welcome to PawneeJim O'Heir6h 24m4.5 (5.3K)$24 · $0.00
Going PostalTerry Pratchett13h 36m4.5 (163.8K)$33 · $0.00
Woman UninterruptedBrodie Kane7h 1m4.6 (562)$24 · $0.00
1984 & Animal Farm (Annotated)George Orwell15h 54m4.5 (220.8K)$3.99 · $0.00
Kingsblood Royal (Annotated)Sinclair Lewis14h 42m4.6 (264)$2 · $0.00
This Is Going to HurtAdam Kay5h 47m4.4 (444.7K)$24 · $0.00
You Will Get Through This NightDaniel Howell6h 56m4.4 (11.8K)$24 · $0.00
Northanger Abbey (Annotated)Jane Austen10h 7m4.5 (1.6K)$2 · $0.00
My Dear HamiltonStephanie Dray, Laura Kamoie23h 7m4.4 (63.6K)$46 · $0.00
THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS & SCREWTAPE PROPOSES A TOAST (Annotated)C. S. Lewis5h 6m4.4 (471K)$2 · $0.00
BufferingHannah Hart5h 55m4.4 (12.4K)$24 · $0.00
The Office BFFsJenna Fischer, Angela Kinsey8h 26m4.3 (45.4K)$26 · $0.00
The Collected Stories of Dorothy ParkerDorothy Parker8h 36m4.3 (13.6K)$1 · $0.00
LambChristopher Moore15h 22m4.3 (211.3K)$33 · $0.00
#IMomSoHardKristin Hensley, Jen Smedley7h 19m4.3 (7.3K)$24 · $0.00
Mixed PlateJo Koy8h 18m4.3 (7.1K)$26 · $0.00
Over the TopJonathan Van Ness5h 50m4.3 (87.3K)$24 · $0.00
It Never EndsTom Scharpling8h 53m4.4 (2.3K)$20 · $0.00
You may also like
New Grub StreetGeorge Gissing21h 2m4.0 (8.9K)$21 · $0.00
The Parade's End Tetralogy: Some Do Not, No More Parades, A Man Could Stand Up & Last PostFord Madox Ford38h 27m4.0 (9.6K)$2 · $0.00
Phineas ReduxAnthony Trollope23h 6m4.2 (4.2K)$28
Democracy: An American NovelHenry Adams7h 44m3.7 (1.5K)$0.60 · $0.00
Plain Tales from the Hills: 40+ Short Stories Collection (The Tales of Life in British India) (Annotated)Rudyard Kipling10h 45m3.9 (12.9K)$2 · $0.00
Vanity FairMakepeace Thackeray35h 5m4.0 (158.7K)$2 · $0.00
The Red RoomAugust Strindberg11h 26m3.6 (5.6K)$1.20 · $0.00
DOMBEY & SON (Illustrated)Charles Dickens41h 6m4.0 (24.6K)$2 · $0.00
Old New YorkEdith Wharton10h4.1 (3.4K)$1 · $0.00
The Custom of the Country (Romance Classic)Edith Wharton16h 57m4.1 (39K)$2 · $0.00
Autobiography of Mark Twain, Vol. 2Mark Twain26h 15m4.5 (816)$30
DublinersJames Joyce7h 26m4.0 (218.2K)$1.20 · $0.00
Boule De SuifGuy De Maupassant1h 44m4.0 (16.6K)$15 · $0.00
The Death of Ivan IlychLeo Tolstoy2h 28m4.2 (303.5K)$2.30 · $0.00
The Portrait of a Lady (The Unabridged Edition) (Annotated)Henry James28h 15m4.0 (106.1K)$2 · $0.00
SharpMichelle Dean11h 35m3.6 (1.9K)$23 · $0.00
Castle Rackrent (Annotated)Maria Edgeworth5h 35m3.5 (6.9K)$1.99 · $0.00
The Nightwatchman’s Occurrence Book, and Other Comic InventionsV. S. Naipaul19h 39m4.0 (204)$30
Skookum Chuck FablesR. D. Cumming2h 40m$2 · $0.00
Tales of Social Shape-Shifting – 5 Classic Satire NovelsF. Anstey, Douglas William Jerrold, Israel Zangwill, Herman Melville, Rudyard Kipling43h 51m$2