The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
It's New York in the 1870s and Archer Newland has just become engaged to May Welland, his ideal woman, when her cousin the Countess Olenska arrives in New york fleeing from a bad marriage. Meeting the Countess forces Archer to re-evaluate everything he believes about the rigid social rules of the New York aristocracy and the life he had intended for himself. A gorgeously written love story about what we owe to ourselves and what we owe to others, about loving the goodness of a person more than wanting them, and about the prisons we build for ourselves. The story is only outshone by the atmosphere - Wharton paints old New York like a canvas. Five Stars.
The 1993 Martin Scorsese directed movie is well worth a watch, too. He recreates the atmosphere perfectly.
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