The Age of Innocence

By: Edith Wharton

Narrated by: David Horovitch

Length: 12 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

Exclusively from Audible

Countess Ellen Olenska, separated from her European husband, returns to old New York society. She bears with her an independence and an awareness of life which stirs the educated sensitivity of the charming Newland Archer, engaged to be married to her cousin, May Welland. Though he accepts the society's standards and rules he is acutely aware of their limitations. He knows May will assure him a conventional future but Ellen, scandalously separated from her husband, forces Archer to question his values and beliefs. With their love intensifying where does Archer's ultimate loyalty lie?

Wharton's audiobook is a love story that accurately portrays upper-class New York society in the late 19th century due to her insider's view of America's privileged classes. Having grown up in upper-class society, Wharton ended up becoming one of its most shrewd critics. Her depiction of the snobbery and hypocrisy of the wealthy elite, combined with her subtle use of dramatic irony, propelled The Age of Innocence to the position of an instant classic, winning the Pulitzer Prize in 1921 and making Wharton the first woman to win the prize.

Narrator Biography

Having studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, David Horovitch has had a television career spanning over 40 years. One of his most notable roles was in 1984 as Detective Inspector Slack in the first BBC Miss Marple adaptation The Body in the Library. Due to the success of his character, he returned for four Christmas specials. He has had roles in other shows such as Just William (1994), Foyle's War (2002) and Wire in the Blood (2005) as well as film appearances in The Young Victoria (2009), 102 Dalmatians (2000) The Infiltrator (2016) and Mike Leigh's Mr Turner (2014). A long time star of the stage, in 2015 he played the role of George Frideric Handel in All the Angels by Nick Drake at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. As well as narrating numerous audiobooks, David Horovitch also appeared in Audible's multicast drama The Oedipus Plays.

Public Domain (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Great story, Perfect Performance

I only picked this up because it was a deal of the day, but I really enjoyed the book. The machinations of old New York society are demonstrated as part of a compelling romance. The narration by David Horovitch is nearly flawless. His cadence underlines the reserve of the time.

This was one of the rare audio books that I probably got more out of than I would have if I had actually read the book.

Really Enjoyable

Any additional comments?

I don't usually read fiction, so this book was a change for me. I really enjoyed the story, one that is applicable to any time or group, even though it was set in high society in New York. The narrator had the right voice for the book, but unfortunately, he would whisper at key parts and it was impossible to hear him and understand what he was saying.

Sorry I put of reading this sooner

One of my favorite books immediately. I only wish I would have read it sooner.

Withering social commentary

Liked it a lot. Fascinating mix of timeless and of its time. Great narration by David Horowitz.

Wonderful story!

Fantastic narration and a beautifully told story. I fell in love with this book. I will read it again just to listen to the beautiful narration and the lovely dialogue.

Very strong ending

This book had a languorous story line, which was too slow for my tastes. But the last chapter was so strong and unexpected that I found out why this was a worthy classic.

Fabulous Book

I did not wish to read this book but when I did, I fell in love with it. The writing is brilliant and the book is well structured. Narration in this performance is perfect. Edith Wharton is a consummate story-teller. Read this book and you will realize why she is so highly regarded.

HAS IT ALL

If you could sum up The Age of Innocence in three words, what would they be?

romantic love squared

What did you like best about this story?

portrayal of the life style of the new york in the 19th century

What does David Horovitch bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

all the characters - he does it so well - they each have such distinct voices

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

no

Any additional comments?

just a very tight story about a family and an era and a society that was beautifully and insightfully written

Jay Lynn Walker

Wharton is a fine writer. This novel still has the power to hold an audience with its distinctive air of modernity and its clever wit. The performance here did justice to Wharton’s superb, insightful writing. style. I intend to seek out more of her novels and short stories, as there is much to learn from them. So far I have found them all to be exceedingly edifying as well as entertaining.

Innocence or insolence?

One of the quirks of my infinitely expanding self imposed reading requirement is the coincidence of intersection of genre form and era. #ageofinnocence was the next on my chronical list of the #modernlibrarytop100novels . Coincidentally, it is on my list of recipients of the #pulitzerprizefornovels , with #edithwharton winning the honor for this work in 1921.

As her seventh novel, set in her childhood of the 1870's in upper class New York, it reveals the culture of America's most powerful people in America's most powerful city in the years following the Civil War written in the years immediately following World War I and the death of Teddy Roosevelt. in those years, when America was rising in economic influence and its perceived global capital was not the Foggy Bottom on the Potomac but rather the glittering money tree on the Hudson, New York held a unique prominence among the wealthy families of the globe as the place where the future of the world was being evolved and monetized. Yet, despite the glamour of its privileged, so too was its bow to convention as the conservative Christian undertone as high society dictated that, while well dressed ladies of New York possessed the latest of Parisian fashion, no truly decent one would wear it for a few years so as to appear wanton. It wasn't an age of innocence so much as appearances as, like their English counterparts, it was difficult to navigate the mine field of society without one's skirt igniting booby traps.

Such is the environment that our main character, Newland Archer, revolves in as a young lawyer from one of the prominent New York families working for one of the city's most prestigious law firms. Engaged to May Welland, a beautiful and much sought after daughter in a prominent family, life becomes complicated when May's cousin Ellen, now bearing the title of Countess Olenska, returns to New York with the intention of divorcing her Polish Count husband who has taken her fortune and was rather abusive, but not much out of convention with the customs and laws of Europe. Ellen is the opposite of May in every way imaginable which, in turn affects Newland's thoughts and dreams.

While it can be chalked up as so much drawing room drama, the book is fascinating as it accurately depicts New York society in the years after the Civil War and offers a peak at how it evolved up to the time of William McKinley and the America that was to come in the era of Teddy Roosevelt. This too, coincides as I am reading an exhaustive biography of William McKinley and have recently completed reading a biography of Julia Ward Howe, the writer of the Star Spangled Banner who grew up in Boston society in the same age. These two societies merged every summer in Newport, Rhode Island, where the privileged of the East Coast frolicked at their "rustic" holiday estates far from the heat and paparazzi of the cities.

The book is beautifully written and, though irritating at times from the frustration inducing nature of societal convention, illuminates a part of America so distinctively different from the spartan and rough hewn commonality of its time. Though democratic in name, America has always indulged and envied its illustrious iconoclasts. We may strive for equality, but covet the trappings of nobility, even today. Only instead of a brougham carriage with six horses we gaze in wonder at phallic shaped rockets carrying the rich to the edge of space for a few minutes and sneer while we wonder and envy.