are still tied up in probate. When Lily asks Grace to borrow money against Aunt Julia's estate and lend or give it to Lily, Grace refuses. Critical reception In the contemporary book review "New York Society Held up to Scorn in three New Books" (15 October 1905) The New York Times critic said that The House of Mirth is "a novel of remarkable power" and that "its varied elements are harmoniously blended, and [that] the discriminating reader who has completed the whole story in a protracted sitting, or two, must rise from it with the conviction that there are no parts of it which do not properly and essentially belong to the whole. Its descriptive passages have verity and charm, it has the saving grace of humor, its multitude of personages, as we have said, all have the semblance of life." The publication of the novel prompted letters to the editor of the "New York Times Saturday Review of Books" which argued the merits of the story, saying that the novel was a faithful and true portrait of the New York City gentry, while detractors said that it impugned the character of the city's social élite as a heartless and materialist leisure class. Adaptations The novel The House of Mirth (1905) has been adapted to radio, the stage and the cinema. The Play of the novel The House of Mirth (1906), by Edith Wharton and Clyde Fitch. La Maison du Brouillard (1918), directed by Albert Capellani, featured Katherine Harris Barrymore as Lily Bart; a French silent film. The House of Mirth was presented on radio's Theatre Guild on the Air December 14, 1952. The one-hour adaptation starred Joan Fontaine and Franchot Tone. The House of Mirth (1956), directed by John Drew Barrymore. Matinee Theatre: Season 2, Episode 56. (4 December 1956) The House of Mirth (1981), directed by Adrian Hall. A television film for the Public Broadcasting System in the U.S. Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth (1995) adapted for the stage by Dawn Keeler. The play was performed by the Cambridge Theatre Company at the Theatre Royal in Winchester, England. After the initial production, the play toured England for nine weeks. This modern adaptation offers a late-twentieth-century interpretation of Lily Bart's story that emphasizes freedom, relationships, and tragedy. The House of Mirth (2000), directed by Terence Davies, featured Gillian Anderson as Lily Bart. Composer Garth Baxter has written the