The Age of Innocence Audiobook By Edith Wharton cover art

The Age of Innocence

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for $0.00
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.

The Age of Innocence

By: Edith Wharton
Narrated by: Lorna Raver
Try for $0.00

$0.00/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $19.74

Buy for $19.74

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

Pulitzer Prize Winner, The Novel, 1921

Newland Archer is about to announce his engagement to the docile May Welland when he meets her cousin, the mysterious, nonconformist Countess Ellen Olenska. Edith Wharton's elegant portrait of desire and betrayal in Old New York earned her the first Pulitzer Prize for literature ever awarded to a woman.

©2007 Public Domain (P)2006 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Classics Literary History & Criticism United States World Literature

People who viewed this also viewed...

The Age of Innocence Audiobook By Edith Wharton cover art
The Age of Innocence By: Edith Wharton
Masterful Prose • Rich Characters • Compelling Storyline • Historical Authenticity • Acute Observations
Highly rated for:
All stars
Most relevant  
Man married one woman, falls for her cousin. No real connection with any of characters. we might understand their motivation but there's no depth to characters. We don't really get the depth of their personality..

Classic, But Why Would I care?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is the best. I am an audiobook addict, and it gets no better than this. If you saw the Jeremy Irons movie by Scorsese, it is a very pale copy. Wharton's prose is rich, her characters fully alive, her acute observations succinctly worded, and her multi-generational plot quietly devastating. By the final pages of the last chapter, I had a steady lump in my throat. The reader is masterful in her pacing, clarity and array of voices...almost like listening to the author herself, communicating to us her large-canvas, minutely described vision of a world we will never see again--old New york..

The Best of Its or Any Day

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The historical look into New York society at the turn of the century is illuminating, humorous and revealing. The character of Newland Archer is well developed, while the others are presented as two dimensional shadows, where the author does not reveal their thoughts or intentions.
The details of society, lifestyles, amenities are very interesting which lend value to the novel, but the story is not very compelling.

Elegant landscape of New York society 19th century

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I have listened to it several times through the years. such a perfectly performed classic

wonderful classic

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I enjoyed the inside look, at an era I had avoided, because of it's repression of women and men. All things revolved around ones status, family connections and wealth. In short, similar to today's hierarchy of social media fame, stardom, etc.

Reflections on a very repressed era.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I am a Wharton fan and this is one of my favorites. The narrator did a good job and really enhanced the story. Kick back with a cup of tea and just let the words wash over you.

A well narrated classic!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

What made the experience of listening to The Age of Innocence the most enjoyable?

This story is set in the 1890's, New York city. It follows the inner thoughts and workings of Newland Archer, a well to do young man in the upper society, during that precarious stage of life before he has committed himself to what sort of life he will live. Will he settle, for better or worse with May Welland? Or will he fling caution and standards to the wind to be with Ellen Olenska?
The real delight of this story, is the peek at the inner workings and mores of the upper crust, a narrow society with very strict rules. I love the way Edith Wharton describes the characters, there subtle dialog and the manners of the times. To be honest, Newland Archer drove me crazy, and I didn't care what choice he made, but the very careful way that Wharton laid out the choices and the consequences was a treat.

Also, the narrator, Lorna Raver, was masterful.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yes, it did, both.

Manners in America's Golden Age

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is definitely an old classic worthy of time to isten. I was fearful that it began much like the Jane Austen novels, but it has more meat to grab your interest. The narration was interesting. There was good diferentiation between characters. I did find it odd having a woman narrate a story told by a man.

Better Than Austen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Wharton's words painted a picture that captured a time in history that was delicately rich and impoverished at once. Great!

A sociological and psychological journey!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
interesting book about nothing other than self centered rich people. I enjoyed listening, but honestly walked away with a feeling of disgust for the characters and our society.

People have always been self centered

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews