description: 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.
language: English
title: The Age of Innocence
titlecomplete: The Age of Innocence
characters: Ellen Olenska, May Welland, Mrs. Augusta Welland, Mrs. Manson Mingott, Newland Archer
genres: Historical, Literature, American, 20th Century, Classics, Novels, New York, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Romance
ratings_count: 168126
places: New York City, New York, New York (State), The United States of America
awards: awardedAt: -1546272000000
name: Pulitzer Prize
category: Novel
publisher: Simon & Schuster