num_pages: 360
description: 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 Welland, 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.
language: English
title: The Age of Innocence
titlecomplete: The Age of Innocence
characters: Mrs. Manson Mingott, Ellen Olenska, Mrs. Augusta Welland, Newland Archer, May Welland
genres: 20th Century, American, New York, Historical Fiction, Historical, Novels, Literature, Classics, Romance, Fiction
ratings_count: 168113
places: New York City, New York, The United States of America, New York (State)
awards: awardedAt: -1546272000000
name: Pulitzer Prize
category: Novel
publisher: Everyman's Library