Pulitzer Prize Fiction Winner
The Age of Innocence
by Edith Wharton
Summary
Set in 1870s New York, the story centers on the conflict between the upper-class social codes and the personal desires of Newland Archer. His life is upended by the arrival of the unconventional Countess Ellen Olenska.
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Historical Context & Significance
Wharton was the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. The jury originally picked Sinclair Lewis's "Main Street," but the board rejected it as too "subversive."