Review: The Custom of the Country

"It's business, nothing personal."

Recently I read the wondrous book The Custom of The Country by Edith Wharton. It was my first taste of Wharton and it was  like eating a good sandwich. And I don’t use that analogy in any sort of demeaning way, I use it because I honestly love sandwiches. Edith Wharton was my delicious sandwich. Just the right mixture of crunchy greens, not too much sauce and bread that adds flavour. It’s the type of creation you wish would never end.

The meat in my proverbial sandwich is the ever adaptable Undine Spragg. How I love her! Do I like her though? No, not really.  She’s not maternal. She’s incredibly vain. She is selfish. However the cherry on the cake is the fact that she is all of these things but absolutely unashamed of herself! How dare she?!

She is who she is and whether or not you agree with her motives and actions, that’s something you have to respect. Often heroines are endowed with flaws, but their “saving grace” is the fact that they become aware of them and at least try to change. Not Undine. I mean with a name like that why would you ever want to change? Okay, so that's not entirely true. Throughout the course of the novel Undine does undergo change, but it is the kind of change and the motivation behind it that makes her so fascinating. Undine changes not for others but to further herself. If it happens to be in someone else's best interest too, then that is mere coincidence. She is so brilliantly imagined and drawn by Wharton that it is such a pleasure to see Undine's mind at work and her amazing ability to adapt .

What I really like about this book is the fact that there seems to be no moral judgment laid upon this character by the author. She is of no less value because she does not fit into the mold of "traditional womanhood"*. What we are introduced to is a woman who is incredibly adroit at her chosen field of interest, which itself has been shaped by her gender and class. I couldn’t help but think what a brilliant, feared business woman she could’ve been, but that’s what Wharton does. She takes the domestic and reveals it to be the business arena that it is for so many people.  

We’ve seen it with Jane Austen’s heroines, who like Undine are very flawed, but altogether likable. They have their value too. In representing normal, well-meaning individuals negotiating one of the most important contracts of their lives. However, Undine Spragg is at another level altogether. She is a masterful negotiator and tactician. She makes me think of a more sophisticated Lucy Steele. I can only imagine what Austen would've thought of this heroine had she had the pleasure of reading this novel. 

Last week I had the pleasure of being introduced to Blanche DuBois, also a very flawed but incredibly fascinating character. Someone who you may not like on a very deep level, but who, at the same time, you can't stop watching. It is these characters not just the "good" ones who I believe are so important in representing woman at all levels of class, likability and intelligence. All of which are deserving of respect. Undine Spragg is a  favourite of mine now, precisely because she is  full of flaws and doesn't give a fuck about it.

*I myself do not even know what this is!