The Custom of the Country

Undine Spragg, a social upstart, arrives in New York City from Apex with her parents and attempts to find a husband to go up the social ladder. The Spraggs, a family of Westerners from Apex who have made money through shady financial dealings, arrive in New York City at the prompting of their daughter Undine who is dissatisfied with their station. For a while Undine struggles to enter the top echelons of society until finally she meets Ralph Marvell, a member of the old upper-class New York society, and they get married. Although Ralph cares for Undine a great deal and caters to her every whim, unfortunately his financial situation does not permit the kind of extravagances Undine desires and thinks she deserves. It was published at a time when Wharton herself was going through a divorce.