The Age of Innocence is a 1920 Edith Wharton novel. In the public domain, it can be read online. It has been adapted for film in 1924, in 1934, and in 1993. I haven't seen any of the movies. I honestly thought I had read this, but it didn't take me but a page to realize I hadn't.
I had forgotten how wonderful Wharton's writing is, and I will be looking to buy whatever the local stores have in stock. She paints a perfect picture of life in early 20th century high society New York during the time my mother was growing up in working class Memphis. A fascinating contrast. The scenes are perfectly set, but the characters are well-drawn, too, and interesting in their own right. Multiple characters are so well-described that there's never a danger of confusion. I felt myself truly drawn in, and I cared about them even in their least sympathetic moments.
from the dust jacket:
As the scion of one of New York's leading families, Newland Archer has been born into a life of sumptious privilege and strict duty. A sensitive, intelligent young man, he still respects the rigid social code by which his class lives; and as he contemplates his forthcoming marriage to the striking and equally well-born May Welland, he gives thanks that she is "one of his own kind." But the arrival of the Countess Olenska, a free spirit who breathes clouds of European sophistication, makes him question the path on which his upbringing as set him. As his fascination with her grows, he discovers just how hard it is to escape the bounds of the society which has shaped him. Edith Wharton's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is at once a poignant story of frustrated love and an extraordinarily vivid, delightfully satirical record of a vanished world.Edith Wharton's home is now a museum. There is a biographical introduction of Wharton and an overview of the house's history at youtube:
and a short virtual tour of the home:
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I thought I had read this too but from reading your plot line don't think I did. I'll remedy that soon. I did read and like her novel Ethan Frome though.
ReplyDeleteDarla
It's odd how convinced I was that this was a re-read for me. No idea what was going on with that.
DeleteReading your description of Wharton and her work I kept thinking that I had read her, but then it dawned on me that I was thinking of Edna Ferber.
ReplyDeleteI have my mother's copy of Edna Ferber's _So Big_. She liked Ferber.
DeleteSo Big is definitely worth the read if you haven't read it all ready.
DeleteThat's one I can't remember reading. I probably read it, because I read most of the books that were in the house while I was still living with my parents. I guess I should start it and see if it comes back to me.
DeleteI am a recent Edith Wharton fan I have downloaded this and three of her other books. She was an interesting and fascinating person I can't at the moment recall the title, but I first read her book said to be autobiography of her life. Some reviewers said she wasn't altogether truthful about details but it was a good read anyway.
ReplyDeleteI bet it'd be hard to write an objective autobiography. We always see our lives differently from how outsiders see us. I googled her autobiography, and I see what you mean. She's said to have left out a few things, but I'll bet more recent biographies cover all that anyway.
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