I just finished The Age of Innocence for book club tonight. I cried at the end, but then couldn't figure out why. Newland Archer is naive and lacks understanding- basically, he's selfish and stupid. These qualities don't usually pull at my heart strings. I suppose it is Edith Wharton herself that has touched me emotionally. She paints an intense picture of the tension between the limitations a social order imposes and the value to society that it imparts. Her descriptions of the physical aspects of life in 1870's New York City are carefully drawn to function as important elements of symbolism and plot rather than as background scenery. Amazing.