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I was skeptical about starting this book because it's a classic (and historical fiction) and for many years I avoided books like these because in my mind, I thought they would be *gasp* boring. But then I started discovering that I loved historical fiction, but only if it were well-written. And I started discovering classic authors that I reliably enjoyed (Steinbeck falls in this category). I've never read anything by Wharton, and I am not a huge fan of Victorian society (way too repressive for me), so there were many reasons for me to avoid this book. Thanks to a GR book club, I decided to give it a try and I'm so glad I did. Yes, this was a book about Victorian society, but it was a well-crafted story about a man who lives on the cusp between a stifling and repressive society and a more open era, of which his children become a part. While he shows many signs of being a bit more progressive and open-minded, he chooses to live within the confines of what is proper--the world where his wife and many in his sphere reside. The Countess Olenska is someone who has decided she doesn't want to live that way, yet she loves her cousin and thus, she lives her life her own way, but tries not to hurt others while she does it. There were many times when Newland Archer looked like he would kick free of the rules, and yet, as he went back and forth between what he wanted and what was proper, he kept choosing what was proper. I want to leave this review spoiler free, but oh man, that ending. Yeah, it hurts. In many ways, this book is a tragedy about living in a repressive society where what is proper outweighs what is humane. It was a brilliant work and makes me want to check out other works by this author. It didn't quite make 5 stars for me because it took me some time to get into it, but once I did, I found myself truly interested in what was going to happen.