The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
Summary (from the publisher): Engaged to the docile May Welland, Newland Archer falls madly in love with the nonconformist Countess Olenska, an older woman with a reputation, but his allegiance to the social code of their set makes their love an impossibility. Review: Up until a few weeks ago, I kept telling everyone I had never read this novel. But, in fact, I have read it and wrote a very comprehensive review of it (below) back in 2016. Chalk it up to pregnancy brain back in 2016, but reading this felt brand new. I appreciated the book the first time around but this second time? I loved it and was deeply moved by the ending scenes of this novel. The second time around, I was struck by how much Newland underestimates his wife May. He makes frequent references to her blank looks and contemplates how unaware she is of her own imprisonment. But in the end, it is she who is much more perceptive of what is going on and deftly uses the social resources and family con...
