The Age of Innocence

Name: The Age of Innocence
Author: Edith Wharton
ISBN: 9781722528898

Edith Wharton

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The Age of Innocence

Edith Wharton

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The Age of Innocence won the 1921 Pulitzer Prize. Set in New York City in the late 19th century, Wharton shows the hypocrisy, snobbery, and pretense of the Gilded Age with its rigid social codes, at a time when people "feared scandal more than diseases." At the heart of this poignant tale is Newland Archer, a young lawyer torn between desire and obligation as he navigates the suffocating constraints of a society obsessed with appearances and reputation. Engaged to the beautiful and proper May Welland, Newland's life takes an unexpected turn when he meets Countess Ellen Olenska, May's unconventional cousin who has returned from Europe amid scandal. Archer is caught between the expectations of his privileged world and his arranged marriage to the lovely, conventional May, and the pull of the forbidden passion in his love for her cousin. Torn between passion and duty, Archer struggles to choose a path that will either courageously define his life or damage it forever.

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