This elegant novel tells the tale of Newland Archer, a well-bred, well-heeled member of 1870's New York society. At the book's opening, he has just become engaged to May Welland, who he considers an ideal match for a man of his station. Unfortunately, Archer's idealized plans for the future are quickly interrupted by the arrival of May's cousin, the disgraced but charming Countess Olenska.

At first, Archer finds the Countess' willingness to disrupt the ridged conventions upon which his life is built threatening, but he soon begins to be seduced by fantasies of the freedom that can be had in such a life. Wharton deftly narrates Archer's struggle to balance the duties that society expects of him with the deeper longings the Countess has inspired, making this an engaging and compulsively readable tale.