The Age of Innocence

⭐️⭐️⭐️
3.5 Stars= It was an enjoyable read

TRIGGER WARNING: DIVORCE, INFIDELITY

Tropes: Other Woman/ Other ManPOV: Single, Third PersonSeries/Standalone: StandalonePart of an interconnected series: NoSafe or Dark: Safe

This was an enjoyable, although somewhat slow-moving, classic novel. When I finished reading this book, I initially gave it three stars, but later added a half star because I was surprised at how I was able to sympathize with all the characters.

I found myself sympathizing with the general idea of some couples who are content or stuck in a passionless and possibly loveless marriage because they feel bound by duty or they just don't feel the need to crumble the life they have built around them and hurt the ones who love them dearly. Especially during times where social standing and class meant everything. You did what you did and put up with the relationships you were given because that's what was expected of you. Young love was lost, and two people were destined to be together but were always pulled apart. So is life.

Newland Archer - It was hard not to feel bad for a young man who felt trapped in his marriage. He so desperately loved someone other than his wife but continuously found no way to go about being with her. It is easy to empathize with someone who fell into depression and led an unhappy and boring existence because escaping and going after the life that he truly wanted would leave his reputation in tatters, and he would be abandoned by his family and peers.

Ellen Olenska - I pity anyone who is stuck in a marriage they don't want to be in, finds a way out, and is shunned for it because divorce was just unheard of at that period in time. I felt sorry for Ellen since her family and even her legal team tried desperately to make her go back to her husband and a miserable life simply because divorce was a “black mark” on your record. You looked pretty, bit your tongue, and took your marriage in stride. She fought so hard to do right by herself and the ones she loved, and she always suffered in the end.

May Welland Archer - Who wouldn't sympathize with an innocent woman who so desperately wants her marriage to work? Who wouldn't feel sorry for a woman who offered to let her fiancee go so he could be with a woman he truly loved, and when he refuses, she just hopes his heart is true and that part of his life is behind him? I felt bad for May because she only wanted to see the good in the world and the people around her. Even when she suspected that something was going on with her husband and another woman, she tried to put on a happy face and resume everyday tasks as normal as possible. Even though I felt bad for May at times, I also found her to be a little bit manipulative and slightly conniving. May told Newland about her pregnancy the evening that the couple hosted Ellen's farewell party, telling him that she was only sure of the fact that she was pregnant that morning. Only for us to turn around and find out that she told Ellen two weeks prior after she returned to New York, most likely in hopes of scaring her away again and putting distance between her cousin and dear husband. When Newland confronts May about telling Ellen fourteen days before his finding out and mentions the fact that "she had only been sure of the pregnancy since this morning," May slyly tells him that she just knew it must be true that she was pregnant weeks ago, and she turned out to be right. She knew exactly what she was doing. She had an ulterior motive.

This love story is a tale as old as time, and situations like this one still occur today, even with society being more open-minded about divorce and relationships. While not my favorite, I still think it is worth a read.