Written in 1892 but not published until 1916, this beautifully crafted story features two sisters who keep a shop in a shabby part of New York City. When Ann Eliza, the eldest sister, gifts Evelina with a clock on her birthday, events are set in motion which will forever change not only their relationship but the very fabric of their world.
Edith Wharton began writing poetry and fiction early in life but her first novel was not published until she was forty. Her novel The House of Mirth established her as a leading writer. The Age of Innocence was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. She was the first woman to receive that honor. In 1929 she was awarded the American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal for Fiction.