Henry James

Flora y Mails, dos niños huérfanos, están bajo la tutela de su tío, un joven adinerado, dueño de la mansión Blay. Éste no desea hacerse cargo de la educación de sus sobrinos, salvo en lo estrictamente material. Para ello contrata los servicios de una joven e inexperta institutriz que viajará hasta la mansión para cuidar y educar a los niños. Con cierto recelo a su llegada, está dispuesta a hacerse respetar. Sin embargo, se verá sorprendida...

Eugenia and Felix, who since their early childhood have lived in Europe, moving from France to Italy and from Spain to Germany. In Germany, Eugenia entered into a Morganatic marriage with Prince Adolf, the younger brother of the reigning prince who is now being urged by his family to dissolve the marriage for political reasons. Because of this, Eugenia and Felix decide to travel to America to meet their distant cousins, so that Eugenia may "seek her...

The Aspern Papers Henry James - The Aspern Papers is a novella written by Henry James, originally published in The Atlantic Monthly in 1888, with its first book publication later in the same year. One of James' best-known and most acclaimed longer tales, The Aspern Papers is based on the letters Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote to Mary Shelley's stepsister, Claire Clairmont, who saved them until she died. Set in Venice, The Aspern Papers demonstrates James'...

Notes of a Son and Brother is an autobiography by Henry James published in 1914. The book covers James' early manhood and tells of "the obscure hurt" that kept him out of the Civil War, his first efforts at writing fiction, and the early death of his beloved cousin, Minny Temple, from tuberculosis.

In this lesser known classic James explores in miniature the themes of his major fiction, enlivened by a characteristically keen eye for character and a wry appreciation of both pretension and the absurd Blackport-on-Dwindle- "all granite, fog, and female fiction"- has been the Gedges' dull domain for some years. They leap, therefore, at the invitation to become the live-in guardians of the birthplace of their nation's literary hero. Anticipating...

The Sacred Fount is a novel by Henry James, first published in 1901. This strange, often baffling book concerns an unnamed narrator who attempts to discover the truth about the love lives of his fellow guests at a weekend party in the English countryside. He spurns the "detective and keyhole" methods as ignoble, and instead tries to decipher these relationships purely from the behavior and appearance of each guest. He expends huge resources of energy...

The Real Thing, a tale of an artist and his models, a husband and wife in impoverished conditions willing to do anything to earn their keep; "Sir Dominick Ferrand," in which struggling author Peter Baron's discovery of the secret letters of Dominick Ferrand changes his life; "Nona Vincent" -- playwright Allan Wayworth struggles to write something meaningful for the popular stage; and "Greville Fane," in which the narrator is called upon to interview...

"The Tragic Muse," although loved by James admirers, hasn't reached the same level of acclaim as some of his earlier novels. The charming and witty story of two would-be artists, both looking for inspiration in spite of society's emphasis on material success, is a provocative look at the role of the artist in society. Nick Dormer, an aspiring painter, must decide whether or not to fulfill his family legacy in British politics with the help of his...

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...

Henry James (1843-1916) was an America-born English writer whose novels, short stories and letters established the foundation of the modernist movement in twentieth century fiction and poetry. His career, one of the most significant and influential in English literature, spanned over five decades and resulted in a body of work that has had a profound impact on generations of writers. Born in New York, but educated in France, Germany, England and Switzerland,...