The Age of Innocence

The time is 1873, the place New York City. The players are the city's wealthiest, who live from one elegant dinner party to the next, while exacting a stiff code of conduct for themselves and those like them. Among these people is Newland Archer, just engaged to May Welland when the Countess Olenska returns after 14 years in Europe. Newland falls for her. Will he break the code and run away with her? Wharton's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is superbly read by Alyssa Bresnahan, who renders Newland, May, and the Countess as unforgettable characters. She is equally able with dozens of minor figures. Bresnahan is particularly adept at portraying Newland Archer's dilemma: a choice between love of honor and love for a woman. Bresnahan's reading is thoroughly empathetic. T.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine


Narrator Lauren Lefkow brings a calm and dignified tone to Edith Wharton's high-society classic. It's a novel full of wry comic observations on the social restraints that bind the upper echelon of New York City society, especially its female members. Lefkow contributes a fitting sense of intelligent restraint without sacrificing the warmth and versatility necessary to keep the listener engaged and entertained. Wharton's strongest asset is her sparkling wit, which proves consistently ironic and fatalistic, and Lefkow seldom misses a beat, ensuring that a character's twinkling eye or raised eyebrow is available to the attentive listener. Though her character range is understated, a shortcoming noticeable only in scenes with multiple characters, Lefkow's sensitivity to character gives a constant lift to an insightful classic. Z.S. � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine