House of Mirth by Edith Wharton.
A day in the shoes of the working class. Something that Lily Bart could never end up doing. WRONG. Lily leaves Mrs. Hatch to live in a boarding home by herself. Completely secluded from society, Lily becomes a maker of women's hats. From being a rich party girl to being a working class milliner, this marks the complete transformation of Lily's life. No more can she afford expensive clothes or jewelry, or to gamble away her earnings. Instead, she turns to a new addiction, sleep aids. However, her sleep medication has unforeseen consequences because, in spring, Lily is fired from her job due to lack of attendance and attention. Rosedale, who had started visiting her, tries to offer her money, however, she refuses. In an emotional fit, Lily visits Selden who confronts her. Lily apologizes for her insincerity over the years and thanks Selden for his kindness before she throws the letters from Bertha into the fire.
This book, if read in reverse would resemble so many of the "rags to riches" stories that Hollywood enjoys releasing to the public. Cinderella, Slum dog-Millionaire, the list goes on. That is if the story is told in reverse. Played in the forward direction, this book provides an excellent manual on how to not squander your money. If you remove all of the love triangles and drama, you get a story of a girl with a serious spending addiction who learns an important life lesson after it's too late. Call me a heartless person, but Lily got what was coming to her. Good for her that she refused help from Rosedale. She needed to be brought back down to reality.
"Beneath it she discovered an increasing sense of loneliness - a dread of returning to the solitude of her room, while she could be anywhere else, or in any company but her own. Circumstances, of late, had combined to cut her off more and more from her few remaining friends" (Wharton, 239).
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