Megan Ramba- Age of Innocence

     I chose to read Age of Innocence because it's set in the time of elaborate balls, eccentric dinner parties, and royalty. In the book, Newland Archer is engaged to be married to May Welland, on the night they announce their engagement May's cousin, Ellen Olenska, returns to New York to escape her terrible husband Count Olenski. May has been brought up in formal New York society and is the essence of what Archer wants in a wife, until he grows closer to Ellen Olenska. In the time of this book, divorced women were considered a disgrace and an embarrassment to one's family. Archer's law firm is handling Ellen's divorce and Archer convinces her to continue as she is separated as not to disgrace her family, which will also soon be his. The catch is Archer is falling madly in love with Ellen because of how different and special she is; he loves the idea of adventure with her, not having to follow all of society's rules all the time. The problem is he must choose between his family and the society he's grown up in or Ellen and a new, exciting world.