Bunner Sisters

In reading the first portion of Bunner Sisters, I was struck by the descriptions the setting. Edith Wharton spends a good deal of time discussing the period, the mysterious appearance of the Bunner sisters' store front, and the debilitated state of the neighborhood in which the story takes place. The way in which she described the sisters' store made me think something wild or illegal took place in there, but it turned out that they just mend clothing? She goes from this cryptic and enticing description of the setting to a kind of mundane and depressing narrative concerning the sisters. I hope there is a twist coming soon that will re-engage me.