Originally published in 1922, this is a sublime novel about greed by Edith Wharton. So make yourself a Pimm’s, find a shady spot and relish in the misadventures of Nick Lansing and Susy Branch.

Nick and Susy are an attractive, impoverished couple who live in New York but love the high life with friends like the New York Vanderlyns and Charles ‘Streffy’ Strefford, an Englishman with latent designs on Susy.

After getting to know one another and becoming a couple adored by the rich and famous for their wit and glamour, Susy and Nick decide to marry and take advantage of their friends’ hospitality for a year living in a Venetian palace, an apartment on Lake Como, and wherever else they may like to take up residence.

However, there is a condition to their marriage.

If either of them, after their year together, finds a more suitable (read: rich) partner, they will support the other’s new liaison.

But, of course, the path of true love never runs smoothly.

This is a wonderful story of love, lust and greed but written with Wharton’s restraint and dignity. Enjoy.

Reviewed by Karen Morana