The Book of Snobs

Snobs is a novel about Edith Lavery, a young English woman from a middle-class background who meets and marries an upper-class Earl, Charles Broughton. Although she imagines that her new wealth and position will make her happy, Edith soon finds she is not fully accepted by Charles' upper-class friends and family, particularly Charles' imperious mother, Lady Uckfield. She leaves behind her active social life in London to live with Charles and his parents at their country estate, where she becomes bored and unhappy. When an attractive actor named Simon comes to the estate as part of the cast of a film, she begins having an affair with him, eventually leaving Charles and moving to London with Simon, who has left his wife, as well. Although happy for a short time, Edith finds she does not fit in with his group of friends, who seem only interested in her because of the scandal she has caused. After six months with Simon, she finds she is pregnant. Forced to take stock of her life and learning that Charles still loves her, Edith returns to him despite the efforts of his mother to keep her away. She returns to live in the country, has the child, and later another. She is never fully accepted by Charles' mother, and she still does not have the glamorous carefree life she imagines the upper class enjoys, but she finds she is content.