Henry James's Portrait of a Lady (1881) is the story of Isabel Archer, a young American woman who comes into wealth and leaves for Europe, where she will test her mettle. This novel is considered by many to have been an inspiration for The Age of Innocence.

Wharton's The House of Mirth (1905) vies with The Age of Innocence as Wharton's best work. Like The Age of Innocence, this novel is set in late nineteenth-century New York; here, however, she portrays Lily Bart's fall from social grace.

Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (1813) is a classic novel of manners. Featuring one of literature's most memorable heroines, this novel depicts the struggles of romance in a time dictated by manners and class structures.

Published in 1995, The Gilded Age: Essays on the Origins of Modern America, edited by Charles W. Calhoun, is a collection of...