The Age of Innocence (Collins Classics) Whartonov Edith (2010)

Newland Archer, a successful and charming young lawyer, follows the rules and standards of polite upper-class New York society. Happily engaged to the pretty and conventional May Welland, he is assured of his place in this rigid world of the elite. However, the arrival of Mays cousin, the exotic and beautiful European Countess Olenska, turns Newlands life upside down. As a divorcee, Olenska is ostracised by those around her, yet Newland is fiercely drawn to her wit, determination and willingness to defy convention. With the Countess, he breaks free from the limitations surrounding him and truly begins to feel for the first time. Whartons subtle examination of the manners and etiquette of 1870s New York society is comic, subtle, satirical and cynical, portraying a man torn between passion and obligation.