Newland Archer belongs to the late 19th century upper class of New York. He is happily engaged to May Welland. But one day Countess Ellen Olenska, May s cousin, returns from Europe. The Countess is independent, brave; very different from the rest of women. Newland will be involved in Ellen s mystery, and will have to fight against the conventions of the upper class, and against his own heart. The Age of Innocence, winner of a Pulitzer Prize, is one of the greatest passionate stories ever written that criticises the customs of New York s upper class.