The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton is a classic novel set in 1870s New York high society. It follows Newland Archer, a young lawyer engaged to the proper May Welland, whose life is complicated when he falls in love with her unconventional cousin, Countess Ellen Olenska. The novel explores love, duty, social expectations, and the restrictions of polite society. Wharton’s elegant story reveals the hidden conflicts beneath the glamorous world of old New York.