The Age of Innocence

The Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about love and the constraints of privilege, and the basis for Martin Scorsese’s outstanding, award-winning 1993 adaptation, now freshly repackaged for the Union Square & Co. Signature Classics Line.

The Age of Innocence begins with Newland Archer--gentleman-lawyer and scion of one of New York’s most privileged families--anticipating his marriage to the gentle, lovely, and equally privileged May Welland. But when Newland meets May’s cousin, the beautiful and scandal-ridden Countess Ellen Olenska, he begins to doubt his choice of bride and his place within the shallow, gilded cage of society life. If the Countess Olenska can dare to leave her disastrous marriage, can defy the unspoken, iron-clad rules that have shaped her life--what freedoms are possible for him? And what does true innocence look like in a world strangled by hollow custom, trivial squabbles, and the appearance of goodness? The Age of Innocence is one of Edith Wharton’s greatest novels and a true classic that continues to inspire and transfix readers today.

Edith Wharton (1862-1937) won the Pulitzer Prize for The Age of Innocence, making her the first female recipient of the award. Wharton was born into a life of wealth and privilege in the upper echelons of New York society. Her knowledge of this ＂old money＂ world formed the backdrop of her best-known novels, The House of Mirth (1905), The Custom of the Country (1913), and The Age of Innocence (1920). Wharton lived out her final years in Europe.