Wharton's classic novel centers around a wealthy society man, Newland Archer, in 1870s New York. Archer is engaged to be married, but when he meets a European woman fleeing from her abusive husband, his eyes are opened and he discovers that there is more to life than society.
Edith Wharton's novel is definitely sending a bold message. It closely mirrors her own life and experiences - Wharton married a society man that she had little in common with. Wharton found her husband spending their money on younger women. Devastated by this betrayal, she fled to Paris and began an extramarital affair with journalist Morton Fullerton. In her journal, she describes her romantic and intellectual involvement with Fullerton as fulfilling everything that had been missing in “the greatest mistake of her life” (her marriage). After divorcing her husband, she moved permanently to Europe.
Unfortunately, Wharton's novel dragged on at times. She went into great detail describing architecture and other unnecessary material details. However, her thought is appreciated - writing this novel in the 1920s, she needed to go into detail to recreate a world that no longer existed. Age of Innocence ended on a somewhat depressing, yet, somehow fulfilling note. I praise her for her ability to leave the reader fully closed as to the love story without going into all sorts of unnecessary details and dialogue.
While Wharton's book dragged on in spots, and I felt an accomplishment at finishing it, her writing has definitely placed a new perspective for me on certain contemporary issues.
Overall: 6 out of 10.
Details:
Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Barnes & Noble Classics; illustrated edition edition (January 16, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1593080743
ISBN-13: 978-1593080747
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