The Age of Innocence
By Edith Wharton

When I started spending time in America, I found reading novels was the best way of getting a sense of the history of where I was. This book is set in 19th-century New York City. Newland Archer makes a giant compromise and has to live with it the rest of his life because he's bound by society and what's expected of him. It particularly interested me because it's about a man making a bad romantic choice.