Henry James

When Isabel Archer, a beautiful, spirited American is brought to Europe by her wealthy aunt Touchett, it is expected that she will soon marry. But Isabel, resolved to enjoy the freedom that her fortune has opened up and to determine her own fate, does not hesitate to turn down two eligible suitors. It is only when she finds herself irresistibly drawn to the cultivated but worthless Gilbert Osmond that she discovers that wealth is a two-edged sword...

Of the three late masterpieces that crown the extraordinary literary achievement of Henry James, The Wings of the Dove (1902) is at once the most personal and the most elemental. James drew on the memory of a beloved cousin who died young to create one of the three central characters, Milly Theale, an heiress with a short time to live and a passion for experiencing life to its fullest. To the creation of the other two, Merton Densher and the magnificent,...

"Widely recognized as one of literature's most gripping ghost stores, this classic tale of moral degradation conerns the sinister transformation of two innocent children into flagrant liars and hypocrites. The story begins when a governess arrives at an English country estate to look after Miles, aged ten, and Flora, eight. At first, everything appears normal but then events gradually begin to weave a spell of psychological terror. One night a ghost...

The story of a young American woman traveling in Europe who clashes with American expatriates in Rome.

Maisie is a preadolescent whose parents were divorced when she was six years old and who spends six months of the year with each parent. The only emotional constant in Maisie's life is Mrs. Wix, a motherly old governess. Maisie's parents marry other partners, but neither marriage succeeds. Her new stepparents are attracted to each other, divorce Maisie's parents, and marry. Maisie knows intuitively that she cannot depend on the adults in her life,...

The Beast in the Jungle is one of James' finest short novels touching upon such universal themes as loneliness, fate, love and death. The story can be interpreted as a confession or parable about James' own life. He never married and possibly never experienced a consummated sexual relationship. Although he did enjoy a thorough experience of aesthetic creativity, it is possible that he still regretted what he called the essential loneliness of his...

The Awkward Age Henry James - The Awkward Age is a novel by Henry James, first published as a serial in Harper's Weekly in 1898-1899 and then as a book later in 1899.Making her debut in London society, Nanda Brookenham is being groomed for the marriage market. Thrust suddenly into the superficial circle that surrounds her mother, the innocent but independent-minded young woman even finds herself in competition with Mrs Brookenham for the affection...

The Figure in the Carpet by Henry James "The Figure in the Carpet" is a short story published in 1896 in London, by American writer Henry James. The short story is usually referred to as a novella and is told in the first person. The narrator, whose name is never revealed, meets his favorite author and becomes obsessed with discovering the secret meaning or intention within all the author's works. The narrator, a writer for a literary newspaper,...

This early work by Henry James was originally published in 1890 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. Henry James was born in New York City in 1843. One of thirteen children, James had an unorthodox early education, switching between schools, private tutors and private reading.. James published his first story, 'A Tragedy of Error', in the Continental Monthly in 1864, when he was twenty years old. In 1876, he emigrated...

This wickedly ironic story is shorter than most of James's tales. It concerns three English aristocrats and an unnamed female narrator who is herself a target of the irony. Ambrose Tester is in love with Lady Vandeleur, a married woman as the story opens. Conveniently for the plot, however, her husband soon dies and Ambrose has a decision to make. Should he marry the woman he loves or Jocelind, whom he does not love but has gotten himself engaged...