I feel like this is a book I couldn't have enjoyed as much in my teens or twenties (unlike Tess of the D'urbervilles, which I read in my teens and loved for its lurid romanticism). The story of Lily Bart resonates better in my 30s, and I appreciated the tarnished view of society life much more after years of reading Regency and Victorian romances where everything works out in the end. Lily was a character I could really feel for; if I'd been in her position, I'd like to think that I would have made different (better) choices, but I suspect that I wouldn't--and that's where the appeal lies. We like to think we can see our choices in black and white, but emotion adds so many shades of grey that we can find ourselves making worse and worse choices with the best of intentions. ( )

Maybe 3.5 stars? I’m conflicted because I really wanted to like this book. It took me two years to read this, I would pick it up, put it down, and then start all over again. Finally, I told myself to just finish it and I did like the second half of the book! The Age of Innocence is in my top 3 books, and I really wanted this to be as good as that. ( )

Different cover picture

I don’t know what it is I find difficult about Wharton, but I tend to find her writing style a bit too careful and formulaic, and at times the elegance of her highbred American characters can be irksome. ( )

I've never read a story where the protagonist was so self-centered and shallow yet so likable. And I've never read a story where money and partying meant so much to the protagonist, aspirations that are so foreign to myself, yet I still felt sympathy for her, and her misfortunes felt so real and callous.

This might be described as a story about New York, high society, partying, traveling, love, scandals, ambition, or money. But most of all this is a story ultimately about Miss Lily Bart's loneliness, and it succeeds in portraying this loneliness so well that I have to recommend it wholeheartedly. ( )