Desire and betrayal in old New York. A look at thwarted love and passions of the human heart. This novel won the first Pulitzer prize given to a woman.
Engaged to the docile May Welland, Newland Archer falls madly in love with the nonconformist Countess Olenska, an older woman with a reputation, but his allegiance to the social code of their set makes their love an impossibility.
New York socialite Newland Archer has found his perfect match in sweet-tempered and stable May Archer, his fiance, yet finds himself drawn to Countess Elena Olenska, a socially ostracized divorcee.