The Age of Innocence
by Edith Wharton (also rec’d by Roxane Gay & Ta-Nehisi Coates )
Buy on AmazonEdith Wharton’s prose style is lucid, intelligent and artful rather than arty; she’s eloquent but never fussy, and always clear. A friend of Henry James, Wharton never seems to be writing well to show off. This poignant story, set in upper-class New York in the 1870s, illustrates the bind for women — the choice is a demeaning if relaxing servitude and a dignified if frightening independence. Should one follow desire or the demands of morality? The novel is romantic and frankly heartbreaking,...
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"Edith Wharton’s prose style is lucid, intelligent and artful rather than arty; she’s eloquent but never fussy, and always clear. A friend of Henry James, Wharton never seems to be writing well to show off. This poignant story, set in upper-class New York in the 1870s, illustrates the bind for women — the choice is a demeaning if relaxing servitude and a dignified if frightening independence. Should one follow desire or the demands of morality? The novel is romantic and frankly heartbreaking,..."
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