Books like A woman ventures by David Graham Phillips

In post‑war New York, Newland Archer faces a dilemma when his fiancée’s cousin, the rebellious Ellen Olenska, challenges his elite society’s expectations and his own loyalty.

A young governess in a remote estate discovers that the souls of two children are threatened by the malevolent ghosts of a former governess and her lover.

In Benjamin P. Gibson’s return to his community after a 10‑year imprisonment, the village of St. Michael’s faces the harsh reality of post‑war survivor “crisis,” as family and tradition vie for survival.

In Edith Wharton’s classic, Lily Bart, a beautiful and intelligent young woman devoted to luxury, struggles to navigate New York’s strict social hierarchy and moral expectations, ultimately confronting the limits of her independence.

Young Caroline Meeber's journey from girlhood to womanhood in 19th-century Chicago and New York, exploring themes of independence, relationships, and the struggles of rising above expectations in a harsh environment and the promise of the American Dream through the eyes of a runaway teenager, with a twist of psychological thriller elements.

Edith Wharton's satiric anatomy of American society in the first decade of the twentieth century appeared in 1913; it both appalled and fascinated its first reviewers, and established her as a major novelist. It follows the career of Undine Spragg, recently arrived in New York from the Midwest and determined to conquer high society. Glamorous, selfish, mercenary, and manipulative, her principal assets are her striking beauty, her tenacity, and her father's money. With her sights set on an advantageous marriage, Undine pursues her schemes in a world of shifting values, where triumph is swiftly followed by disillusion. Wharton was re-creating an environment she knew intimately, and Undine's education for social success is chronicled in meticulous detail. The novel superbly captures the world of post-Civil War Ameria, as ruthless in its social ambitions as in its business and politics. - Back cover.

The Reef follows American diplomat George Darrow as he navigates an illicit affair with widow Anna Leath while in France, exposing the moral contradictions of early 20th‑century society.

Cabbages and Kings is O. Henry’s first collection of short stories, published in 1904.