Tale of the manners and morals of New York society in the later 1800s. Newland Archer is a young attorney, handsome and eligible. Torn between his socially acceptable fiancee and the more earthy attractions of Countess Olenska, Archer is truly on the horns of a dilemma. The plot is unobvious, delicately developed, with a fine finale that exquisitely satisfies one's sense of fitness, and as always with Edith Wharton, the drama of character is greater than that of event.