Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best novels of all time.
Newland Archer saw little to envy in the marriages of his friends, yet he prided himself that in May Welland he had found the companion of his needs--tender and impressionable, with equal purity of mind and manners. The engagement was announced discreetly, but all of New York society was soon privy to this most perfect match, a union of families and circumstances cemented by affection.
Enter Countess Olenska, a woman of quick wit sharpened by experience, not afraid to flout convention and determined to find freedom in divorce. Against his judgment, Newland is drawn to the socially ostracized Ellen Olenska, who opens his eyes and has the power to make him feel. He knows that in sweet-tempered May, he can expect stability and the steadying comfort of duty. But what new worlds could he discover with Ellen? Written with elegance and wry precision, Edith Wharton's Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece is a tragic love story and a powerful homily about the perils of a perfect marriage.
Introduction by Louis Auchincloss with Commentary by William Lyon Phelps and E.M. Forster.
Editorial Reviews
"Is it--in this world--vulgar to ask for more? To entreat a little wildness, a dark place or two in the soul?" --Katherine Mansfield
"There is no woman in American literature as fascinating as the doomed Madame Olenska....Traditionally, Henry James has always been placed slightly higher up the slope of Parnassus than Edith Wharton. But now that the prejudice against the female writer is on the wane, they look to be exactly what they are: giants, equals, the tutelary and benign gods of our American literature." --Gore Vidal
"Will writers ever recover that peculiar blend of security and alertness which characterizes Mrs. Wharton and her tradition?" --E. M. Forster
"One of the best novels of the 20th century." --NY Times Book Review
About the Author
Her controversial stories explored women's roles in the nineteenth century. Born into a prosperous New York family, Edith Wharton (1862-1937) wrote more than 15 novels, including The Age of Innocence, The House of Mirth, Ethan Frome, and other esteemed books. She was distinguished for her work in the First World War and was the first woman to receive a Doctorate of Letters from Yale University. She died in France at the age of 75.
Louis Auchincloss is the author of a number of novels, including The Rector of Justin, available from the Modern Library. He lives in New York City.
![“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.”
So begins Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen’s witty comedy of manners—one of the most popular novels of all time—that features splendidly civilized sparring between the proud Mr. Darcy and the prejudiced Elizabeth Bennet as they play out their spirited courtship in a series of eighteenth-century drawing-room intrigues. "Pride and Prejudice seems as vital as ever," writes Anna Quindlen in her introduction to this Modern Library edition. "It is a pure joy to read." Eudora Welty agrees: "The gaiety is unextinguished, the irony has kept its bite, the reasoning is still sweet, the sparkle undiminished. [It is] irresistible and as nearly flawless as any fiction could be."
This volume is the companion to the BBC television series, a lavish production aired on the Arts and Entertainment Network.
Introduction by Anna Quindlen](https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-ezptpblrxu/images/stencil/500x659/products/821/1377/PrideAndPrejudiceModernLibrary__09603.1659821004.jpg?c=2 "“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.”
So begins Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen’s witty comedy of manners—one of the most popular novels of all time—that features splendidly civilized sparring between the proud Mr. Darcy and the prejudiced Elizabeth Bennet as they play out their spirited courtship in a series of eighteenth-century drawing-room intrigues. \"Pride and Prejudice seems as vital as ever,\" writes Anna Quindlen in her introduction to this Modern Library edition. \"It is a pure joy to read.\" Eudora Welty agrees: \"The gaiety is unextinguished, the irony has kept its bite, the reasoning is still sweet, the sparkle undiminished. [It is] irresistible and as nearly flawless as any fiction could be.\"
This volume is the companion to the BBC television series, a lavish production aired on the Arts and Entertainment Network.
Introduction by Anna Quindlen")
