Lily Bart is a young woman born into New York's Golden Age society. In order to maintain her place in society, she must marry wisely. Being orphaned, she must look to herself to make a good match. As Lily says "...when a girl has no mother to palpitate for her, she must be on the alert for herself." Even with the advantages of beauty, ambition, wiles, and great delicacy, Lily, without an interested party to look out for her, makes a series of fatal mistakes. The inexorableness of Lily's fate, only whispered and hinted at at first, becomes more and more clear as the novel progresses until the reader is led to the inescapable conclusion. I felt as if I were firmly in the authors's deft hands through the entire book, although the author, herself, never intruded on the story once. Wharton has got to be one of the most gifted writers of all-time!

Lily Bart is the most memorable character to me since Elizabeth Bennet.

Very good book. Wharton comments on the society of Old New York, the role of women and the social mores of the time.