The Age of Innocence

The story centers on Newland Archer, a respectable young lawyer engaged to the beautiful and proper May Welland. His orderly life changes when May’s cousin, the independent and unconventional Countess Ellen Olenska, returns to New York after leaving an unhappy European marriage. As Archer becomes deeply drawn to Ellen, he struggles between his passion for her and the strict social rules of upper-class society. The novel portrays a world where reputation, tradition, and appearances control people’s choices and emotions.