Other editions of book The age of innocence

Everyman's Library, #202. Originally published in 1920. Edith Wharton's novel reworks the eternal triangle of two women and a man in a strikingly original manner. When about to marry the beautiful and conventional May Weland, Newland Archer falls in love with her very unconventional cousin, the Countess Olenska. The consequent drama, set in New York during the 1870s, reveals terrifying chasms under the polished surface of upper-class society as the increasingly fraught Archer struggles with conflicting obligations and desires. The first woman to do so, Edith Wharton won the Pulitzer Prize for this dark comedy of manners which was immediately recognized as one of her greatest achievements.

It’s the perfect match—gentleman lawyer Newland Archer will marry young socialite May Welland. The marriage should be a source of pride for Newland, accustomed as he is to meeting the expectations of New York’s high society. But when he falls for May’s exotic and enchanting cousin, Countess Ellen Olenska, he faces an impossible choice: should he be the dutiful husband and stay with his bride, or give in to his passions and follow the countess around the world?A classic that encapsulates the etiquette of the times, The Age of Innocence is as much about loyalty, duty, and decorum as it is about desire.Revised edition: Previously published as The Age of Innocence, this edition of The Age of Innocence (AmazonClassics Edition) includes editorial revisions.

Newland Archer is a young lawyer, a member of New York's high society, and engaged to be married to May Welland. Countess Ellen Olenska is May's cousin, and wants a divorce from the Polish nobleman she married. Intelligent and beautiful, she comes back to New York where she tries to fit into the high society life she had before her marriage. Her family and former friends, however, are shocked by t...

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. Enter Countess Olenska, a woman of quick wit sharpened by experience, and not afraid to flout convention. Against his judgment, Newland is drawn to the socially ostracized Ellen Olenska. He knows that in sweet-tempered May, he can expect stability and duty. But what new worlds could he discover with Ellen?

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Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award Winner of the first Pulitzer Prize for literature ever awarded to a woman, The Age of Innocence is Edith Wharton's elegant portrait of desire and betrayal in Old New York. In the highest circle of New York social life during the 1870s, Newland Archer, a young lawyer, prepares to marry the docile May Welland. But before their engagement is announced, he meets the mysterious, nonconformist Countess Ellen Olenska - May's cousin, who has returned to New York after a long absence. Ellen mirrors his own sense of disillusionment with society and the 'good marriage' he is about to embark upon and provokes a moral struggle within him as he continues to go through the motions.