One of Edith Wharton's most famous novels. The first by a woman to win the Pulitzer Prize- The Age of Innocence presents a picture of upper-class New York society in the 1870s. Newland Archer, an aristocratic young lawyer, is engaged to the cloistered, beautiful May Welland. But when May's cousin Ellen arrives from Europe, fleeing her failed marriage to a Polish count, her worldly and independent nature intrigues and unsettles Archer. Wharton's profound understanding of her characters' lives makes the triangle of Archer, May, and Ellen both urgent and poignant. An incisive look at the ways desire and emotion must negotiate the complex rules of society, The Age of Innocence is one of Wharton's most moving works. Edith Wharton (New York, 1862-1937) was an American author best known for her stories and novels about the upper-class society into which she was born. Her major literary model was Henry James, whom she knew, and her work reveals James's concern for artistic form and ethical issues. In 1921, Edith Wharton became the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize (for The Age of Innocence).