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The Age of Innocence (Modern Library Classics)
by Edith Wharton

Published: 1999-03-02
Paperback : 304 pages
7 members reading this now
17 clubs reading this now
2 members have read this book
Newland Archer saw little to envy in the marriages of his friends, yet he prided himself that in May Welland he had found the companion of his needs--tender and impressionable, with equal purity of mind and manners. The engagement was announced discreetly, but all of New York society was ...
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Introduction

Newland Archer saw little to envy in the marriages of his friends, yet he prided himself that in May Welland he had found the companion of his needs--tender and impressionable, with equal purity of mind and manners. The engagement was announced discreetly, but all of New York society was soon privy to this most perfect match, a union of families and circumstances cemented by affection.
        Enter Countess Olenska, a woman of quick wit sharpened by experience, not afraid to flout convention and determined to find freedom in divorce. Against his judgment, Newland is drawn to the socially ostracized Ellen Olenska, who opens his eyes and has the power to make him feel. He knows that in sweet-tempered May, he can expect stability and the steadying comfort of duty. But what new worlds could he discover with Ellen? Written with elegance and wry precision, Edith Wharton's Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece is a tragic love story and a powerful homily about the perils of a perfect marriage.

Commentary by William Lyon Phelps and E. M. Forster

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Member Reviews

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by Leslie R. (see profile) 09/04/23

 
  "I enthusiastically recommend this book. Wharton's skill in revealing the rigid, fragile society of "Old New York", and her complex, subtly drawn characters made this a favorite with us."by Bill N. (see profile) 09/10/08

Complex, subtle, wonderfully ironic humor, poignant ending. This is what good fiction is all about.

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