I actually picked up this book after seeing 5 minutes of the movie and reading about it on wiki.I thought it looked like an interesting read. It certainly was :). I had not heard of Edith Wharton before. My exposure to period novels were restricted to British till now. "Gone with the wind" being the only exception.
This book served as a good introduction to the American period drama. The story will be a familiar one for Indian movie buffs. The husband(Archer Newland) is in love with the wife's(May's) cousin (Countess Hellen Ollenska),who has had a bad marriage and has left her husband. The American society in the late 1800's is very similar to orthodox Indian societies of the present day.This orthodox society which sees only good everywhere, has no solution for a woman who has left her husband other than that "the wife's place is with her husband". It turns a blind eye to anything bad , like a promiscous husband always has a dumb pretty wife who has no clue about her husband and worships him. Also like the old English societies, title is given more preference than profession. A Count has more standing than a writer or an artist."Gentelmen have no profession, they do not work for a living" . This books does a good job of portraying that society with all its stereotypical and colorful people. The protagonist is always drawn between his idealistic New york society represented by his wife and the faults of it that get visible when he meets his wife's cousin.
It is a story of sacrifice by "the other woman" for the well being of her cousin and her family.
The scene where May gives a farewell to Countess Olenska is my favorite.That is where Newland gets an impression that everyone in the party knows that he loves Helen and are behaving as if they have no clue about it and also that it is not true and cannot happen in their society.
The Novel ends with the era of their children showing how the society has evolved to become more progressive, Their children focus more on their career and individual lives than on the society. Newland's son wants to marry the daughter of a dishonoured member of his father's society and it does not matter to the society he lives in.
This novel made me wonder: Is the story of Mankind similar everywhere : does it move from being orthodox towards progessive?
