Picking up where the first volume left off, La foire aux vanités (Vanity Fair) continues to follow our two contrasting heroines. Becky Sharp, having schemed her way into high society, finds her carefully built world is more fragile than it appears. Meanwhile, Amelia Sedley, drowning in grief and poverty, must find a strength she never knew she had. Their paths keep crossing in the drawing rooms and battlefields of post-Napoleonic Europe, showing us two very different ways women survived in a ruthless world.

Why You Should Read It

Thackeray’s genius is in his characters. You won't find pure heroes or villains here, just incredibly real, flawed people. I spent half the book rooting for Becky's cleverness and the other half being horrified by her choices. Amelia frustrated me with her passivity, but her journey to independence felt genuine. The book is funny, but it's a dark, satirical humor that exposes the emptiness behind wealth and titles. It made me think about what we sacrifice for respectability and how little society's rules have really changed.

Final Verdict

This is for readers who love big, juicy classic novels with characters you'll argue about. Perfect for fans of Austen's social observations but who want something with more bite and moral gray area. It’s a long read, but Thackeray's voice is so conversational and witty that the pages fly by. Just be prepared—no one gets off easy in Vanity Fair.