Wharton’s sly and delicious novel about the ambitious social ascent of Undine Spragg now in a
Penguin Vitae edition with a foreword by Sofia Coppola A Penguin Vitae Edition Considered
by many to be her masterpiece Edith Wharton’s second full-length work is a scathing yet
personal examination of the exploits and follies of the modern upper class. As she unfolds the
story of Undine Spragg from New York to Europe Wharton affords us a detailed glimpse of what
might be called the interior décor of this America and its nouveau riche fringes. Through a
heroine who is as vain spoiled and selfish as she is irresistibly fascinating and through a
most intricate and satisfying plot that follows Undine’s marriages and affairs she conveys a
vision of social behavior that is both supremely informed and supremely disenchanted.
