The Age of Innocence by Edith WhartonMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Alright, I'll admit it. I hadn't planned to read this book but it popped up on Amazon as an ad and it was only 99 cents so I downloaded it to my Kindle. I'm glad I did. The writing is brilliant. The story follows Newland Archer in the upper echelons of New York City society in the 1870s. His life is rather predictable and he doesn't seem to mind that. He is engaged to the sweet, yet vapid, May Welland and they are about to announce their engagement when he encounters her cousin Countess Olenska (Ellen). Ellen is fleeing a bad marriage in Europe and her quirky lifestyle and unconventional take on New York's society turns Newland's own views upside down. He becomes enthralled with Ellen while committed to May. The turning point for him comes when, after his marriage to May he is in Newport with other wealthy friends at a garden party, looks around and thinks: "It surprised him that life should be going on in the old way when his own reaction to it had so completely changed." His obsession with Ellen never waivers and his constant internal turmoil is well portrayed by Edith Wharton.
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