This novel won the Pulitzer Prize in 1921. It explores the social landscape of old New York and life in the 1870s. The author provides readers with ample information to delve into the relationship between a lawyer, Newland Archer, and his fiancée, May Welland. The novel examines what can go wrong in the love affairs of the upper class and how they may feel conflicted considering the constraints of societal norms.
The author writes explicitly and engagingly. The reader quickly grasps the characters’ reputations and significance, including their efforts to conceal their truest feelings about almost anything. Archer strives to maintain his integrity but is torn between his feelings for Ellen.
The novel poses the question: do you know what it feels like to make sacrifices in the name of conformity?
