La señora Parkington

On the very first page of this splendid novel, we meet Susie Parkington, who at eighty-four years old is dressing for Christmas dinner in a Manhattan mansion. It's the years following the Great Depression of 1929, but her fortune has withstood the worst blows thanks to the shrewdness of Gus Parkington, who died years ago. When the lady finally enters the drawing room for pre-dinner drinks with her children and grandchildren, the scene is pathetic: those who haven't crumbled and been crushed by boredom have married in the worst possible way; those who haven't stolen, trading in worthless stocks and inflating the market with false promises have been swindled chasing pipe dreams; and everyone waits with a certain impatience for the woman to rest in peace and for the inheritance to be divided, but they will have to wait: Susie remains steadfast, in charge, ensuring that the future is a place where honest work has meaning. That strong and intelligent woman, who rules the intrigues of Wall Street and walks the streets of New York at the beginning of the twentieth century, could be the protagonist of an Edith Wharton novel, but on closer inspection she is a woman of today: her world is ours, the corruption is almost the same, and what has really changed is the length of our skirts.