It was a glittering, sumptuous time when hypocrisy was expected, discreet infidelity tolerated, and unconventionality ostracized. <p> That is the Gilded Age, and nobody knew its hypocrises better than Edith Wharton.... and nobody portrayed them as well. The Age of Innocence is a trip back in time to the stuffy upper crust of old New York, taking us through one respectable mans hopeless love affair with a beautiful woman – and the life he isnt brave enough to have. <p> Newland...
It had been 16 years since I last read of Lily Bart and her life, and I didnt realize how much I had missed her upon re-reading. For me, this is one of the great reading experiences, one of a handful that make reading a book the deeply moving and human exchange that it is. Despite the distance of wealth, property, time and manners, Wharton manages to make Lilys world and life palpable to anyone who will listen. The clash of money, morals, personality and circumstance is infinitely developed and...
