Countess Olenska, having suffered the collapse of her marriage in Europe, arrives in New York. Newland Archer anticipates marriage to May Welland, the countess's cousin, but eventually falls in love with the countess. He discovers the real anguish of loving outside of society's rules.
Ethan Frome works his unproductive farm and struggles to maintain a bearable existence with his difficult, suspicious, and hypochondriac wife, Zeenie. But when Zeenie's vivacious cousin enters their household as a 'hired girl', Ethan finds himself obsessed with her and with the possibilities for happiness she comes to represent.
Widely regarded as one of Edith Wharton's greatest achievements, The Age of Innocence is not only subtly satirical, but also a sometimes dark and disturbing comedy of manners in its exploration of the 'eternal triangle' of love.