Edith Wharton 
The House of Mirth 

The House of Mirth (House of Mirth) is the fourth novel by the American writer Edith Wharton, published in 1905. The story tells of the social decline of a young American woman, Lily Bart, belonging to a disgraced high-society family, who became a victim of the hypocrisy of the New York worldly environment of the early 20th century.