The season : a social history of the debutante

From Georgian England and Edith Wharton’s New York to the contemporary International Debutante Ball, the presentation of young women into society has persisted.

In this “sharply observed” (The New Yorker) exploration of the debutante ritual, Kristen Richardson uncovers its extensive cultural influence in Britain and the United States, how daughters in these countries have come to marry, and the ritual’s spread around the world—reaching France, Russia and China.

The Season gives voice to an array of complex feelings about being put on display, and about what these women’s futures in society might be.