The Age of Innocence (1920) by Edith Wharton (1862 – 1937) is considered one of this classic American author’s finest works. Following is a selection of quotes from The Age of Innocence that capture its style and substance.

In 1921, it earned Wharton the distinction as the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. In a 2019 essay in The New York Times, “The Age of The Age of Innocence,” Elif Batuman  argued that  in some ways, this classic novel feels more current than ever.

The story is set in the 1870s and centers on Newland Archer, an upper-class New Yorker. Archer’s conflicted desires between duty to his staid but loving wife and his passion for scandal-plagued divorcée Countess Ellen Olenska are central to the narrative. Read More→