The Age of Innocence marks the pinnacle of Edith Wharton’s career as one of the finest American novelists of her era. The narrative follows Newland Archer, of upper-crust 1870s New York, whose passion for the mysterious Countess Ellen Olenska leads him to question the very foundations of his way of life. Written in the aftermath of World War I, the novel explores the psychological and cultural paradoxes of desire in a world undergoing unprecedented transformations. This edition includes a critical introduction and a range of appendices that contextualize the novel in terms of its modernist themes and tensions. Comments “From the wide-ranging and expert introduction to the appendices (one of which gives readers Wharton’s plot outlines for the novel), Michael Nowlin’s edition is eminently useful. The book provides us with representative reviews from the time of the initial publication, writings by Wharton and others about ‘feminism,’ Wharton’s letters, and excellent notes for both the text and supplemental materials. No one working on Wharton today places her so accurately as Nowlin.” — Linda Wagner-Martin, The University of North Carolina at Chapel-Hill “The beauty of The Age of Innocence rests in the beauty of Wharton’s language and the precision of her insights into human nature; the supporting reference materials provided here in appendices and notes illuminate the cultural and social history of Old New York, the city in which Newland Archer and the Countess Olenska discover their forbidden love. Michael Nowlin’s edition is an excellent resource.” — Shari Benstock, University of Miami
