The Custom of the Country

Nov 29, 2025 9:12 PM

Author:Edith Wharton,Anita Brookner

Edith Wharton's novels of manners seem to grow in stature as time passes. Here she draws a beautiful social climber, Undine Sprague, who is a monster of selfishness and honestly doesn't know it. Although the worlds she wants to conquer have vanished, Undine herself is amazingly recognizable. She marries well above herself twice and both times fails to recognize her husbands' strengths of character or the weakness of her own, and it is they, not she, who pay the price.

Reviews

'Gives Nick Hornby and Helen Fielding a damn good run for their money'

—— Daily Telegraph

'Sexy, funny, smart.For any woman who has ever been single'

—— Cosmopolitan

'A modern classic'

—— 19

The handsome bindings are only the cherry on top of what is already a cake without compare

—— Evening Standard

A handsome, collectable hardback edition

—— Lynne Truss, THE TIMES

Compelling

—— Woman's Own

Joughin's characters are always tangible. Yet while her dialogue has the ring of authenticity, the inclusion of selected lines from Larkin, Hughes and Yeats ensures an appealing languor

—— The Observer

Joughin's second novel confirms her gift for mining tragi-comic gems from outposts of shabby bohemia

—— The Independent

Joughin's poetic prose perfectly conveys the delicacy of human emotion, and the frequent disjunction between art and life'

—— Choice Magazine

Like a cross between Margaret Drabble and Francoise Sagan

—— The Times

Joughin has an appealing darkness and urgency, as she potently conveys the pleasures and pains of human interactions

—— The Sunday Times

Adeptly written and enjoyable... Ruth's childhood perspectives are extremely well captured

—— Telegraph

Striking story of Ruth and Gray under the spell of famous poets' lives

—— Good Housekeeping's 8 Great Reads

Reading Joughin's second novel is like immersing yourself in a cool pool at a hazy summer party ...as addictively abrasive as a shot of cold vodka, this wil leave you both refreshed and gasping for stability

—— Time Out

This darkly comic story about unpredictable love is perfect if you're looking for some intelligent chicklit

—— Family Circle

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