" This book was perhaps the most tragic novel I have read yet. Wharton sets readers up to develop a strong attachment to Lily - she is the representation of what modern feminists would label as a "glass barrier-breaking revolutionary". From the beginning where she is brought simply as a pawn to disguise the affair going on between Bertha and Ned up until the death of her aunt, she is a true rejection from society. Trying to rebuild her faltering reputation, Lily strives to manage the one year that she must wait in order to inherit her aunts' money. Lily's story shows that you can work every job in the book, associate with every European dignitary, and wait for every family member to give you his or her money but it is society's judgement of you that dictates your social standing. When Lily overdosed, I actually had quite a few tears lining the trims of my eyelashes - she was an ostracized, miserable woman who so desperately tried to fit in. She couldn't stand to die a failure - so she paid off her debts and committed suicide. She was about to have everything, a husband: Shelden, who cared for her and some money to start her life over; however her past humiliation proved to be too great of a force. I loved this book and I look forward to perhaps reading the Age of Innocence? "
— Rachel, 1/21/2014