The House of Mirth Book 1, Chapters 8 and 9

The House of Mirth
Edith Wharton

The Bridgerton Series

So I want to focus on Mrs. Peniston for a while because I like her and she seems somewhat important to the story and Lily's decisions.  I do want to confess, though, that I could not even remember who this woman was for a few paragraphs in chapter 9 until Wharton mentioned Lily Bart.  [On a side note, The House of Mirth is sometimes very confusing because of all the different characters, and I often find myself looking back through previous chapters to remember someone and what their purpose in the overall plot is.]  As Lily's aunt, Mrs. Peniston is responsible for her funds and her achievements in society.  As a prominent woman, she must maintain a clean and respectable household; Wharton claimed "she sought for moths as the stricken soul seeks for lurking infirmities."  She is also very interested in what other members of society are doing, like the wedding in chapter 8.  When I read this part, I immediately thought of Lady Danbury from the Bridgerton Series, one of my all-time favorites by Julia Quinn which I will probably refer to with this novel many times in the future because many aspects parallel each other.  Although the Bridgerton novels all take place in England in the early- to mid-1800's, society remains the same-- judgmental, critical, and demanding of all its prominent members.  Lady Danbury is one of the funniest characters in the series because she always speaks her mind, fears no one, judges everyone, manipulates many, and seems underhandedly in control of everyone/thing in society.  I know that Mrs. Peniston does not have that exact position in society, but she does want to know everything about what happens and with whom these things happen.  She is obviously annoyed when Lily cannot recall minute details of the ceremony, although she did not even want to attend the event herself.  Lily chose to stay with her aunt for a longer period because she did not want to return to Bellomont and she did not receive many other invitations from her other "friends," but I think she would have rather stayed with them, if just to appease society's standards.
      The novel is a little boring right now, but I think it will become more exciting as Lily discovers her purpose and, possibly, finds herself a husband (hopefully Selden, but not very likely).  I love sweet novels where the heroine ends up marrying the hero, like in the Bridgerton novels, but I know that The House of Mirth will probably not end this way.