A review by sleepingsaha
The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton

5.0

Oh, Undine — Lily Bart aspires to be her, Blair Waldorf grudgingly respects her, Daisy Buchanan understands her. I went into this novel knowing very little about it and I think that’s the way to do it, because I really could not predict what Undine, as well as the men she’s puppeteering, would be capable of. Wharton is brilliant at setting, and especially at varying setting based on the narrator’s POV. That’s part of what makes the book so compelling. I was also captured by the ferocity of Undine’s feelings, from her resentment to her longing to her self-interested curiosity. I feel like this would fit well into an “I support women’s rights and women’s wrongs” theme, and I also feel that the book raises intriguing questions about nationalism / Americanness, narrativizing one’s own life, and what we owe to not just our partners but our parents, our children, and the people we have once loved. The only thing I wish were different about this novel is the ending, which I felt wrapped things up too neatly and was a bit heavy-handed (I liked this better than “The Age of Innocence” but the ending of that one has stayed with me!). Still, I’m so glad I read this and I think it’ll be one of my favorites of the year!