I had this book recommended to me, and I’m so glad I decided to give Edith Wharton another chance! I listened to the audio version of Ethan Frome to help me win last year’s reading challenge and was not a fan. But so far I’m enjoying The Age of Innocence! The social commentary is biting, and the character descriptions are pretty fantastic (some make me laugh out loud). Plus, it’s very interesting to read about New York City in the 1870s. If you are a fan of Jane Austen it’s probably safe to say you’ll enjoy this book as well.
From Goodreads:
“Winner of the 1921 Pulitzer Prize, The Age of Innocence is Edith Wharton’s masterful portrait of desire and betrayal during the sumptuous Golden Age of Old New York, a time when society people “dreaded scandal more than disease.”
This is Newland Archer’s world as he prepares to marry the beautiful but conventional May Welland. But when the mysterious Countess Ellen Olenska returns to New York after a disastrous marriage, Archer falls deeply in love with her. Torn between duty and passion, Archer struggles to make a decision that will either courageously define his life—or mercilessly destroy it.”