Henry James

Otra vuelta de tuerca is one of the most important works of North American literature, and the most famous work by Henry James. The story begins when a governess arrives at the Bly mansion to begin her job of taking care of the two orphaned children who live there. Just like Victorian mansions of classic Gothic literature, this house guards secrets which the governess tries to uncover. This is a quintessential novel of its time, and a true American classic with themes that are still relevant today.

The Wings of the Dove is a 1902 novel by Henry James. This novel tells the story of Milly Theale, an American heiress stricken with a serious disease, and her effect on the people around her. Some of these people befriend Milly with honorable motives, while others are more self-interested. Kate Croy and Merton Densher are two betrothed Londoners who desperately want to marry but have very little money. Kate is constantly put upon by family troubles, and is now living with her domineering aunt, Maud Lowder. Into their world comes Milly Theale, an enormously rich young American woman who had previously met and fallen in love with Densher, although she has never revealed her feelings. Her travelling companion and confidante, Mrs. Stringham, is an old friend of Maud. Kate and Aunt Maud welcome Milly to London, and the American heiress enjoys great social success.

First published in the U. S. in the anthology collection The Two Magics in 1898, Henry James's classic ghost story The Turn of the Screw has been enthralling readers for over a century and shows no sign of losing popularity as new generations continue to discover this chilling masterpiece.

The Ambassadors is a 1903 novel by Henry James, originally published as a serial in the North American Review (NAR). This dark comedy, seen as one of the masterpieces of James's final period, follows the trip of protagonist Lewis Lambert Strether to Europe in pursuit of Chad Newsome, his widowed fianc e's supposedly wayward son; he is to bring the young man back to the family business, but he encounters unexpected complications. The third-person narrative is told exclusively from Strether's point of view. Plot summary Lambert Strether, a middle-aged, yet not broadly experienced, man from Woollett, Massachusetts, agrees to assume a mission for his wealthy fianc e: go to Paris and rescue her son, Chad Newsome, from the clutches of a presumably wicked woman. On his journey, Strether stops in England, and there meets Maria Gostrey, an American woman who has lived in Paris for years. Her cynical wit and worldly opinions start to rattle Strether's preconceived view of the situation. In Paris, Strether meets Chad, and is impressed by the much greater sophistication Chad seems to have gained during his years in Europe. Chad takes him to a garden party, where Strether meets Marie de Vionnet, a lovely woman of impeccable manners, separated from her reportedly unpleasant husband, and Jeanne, her exquisite daughter. Strether is confused as to whether Chad is more attracted to the mother or the daughter. At the same time, Strether, himself, feels an overwhelming attraction to Marie de Vionnet, which he suspects she might requite, and so begins questioning his commitment to return to Woollett and marry Chad's mother, despite his admiration for her. All of these impressions of Parisian culture lead Strether to confide in Little Bilham, a friend of Chad's, that he might have missed the best life has to offer; he starts to delight in the loveliness of Paris, and stops Chad from returning to America. Strether's American traveling companion, Waymarsh, provides thematic counterpoint, by refusing to be seduced by the charms of Europe. Meanwhile, Mrs. Newsome, Strether's fianc e and Chad's mother, impatiently waiting in America, enlists new "ambassadors" to return forthwith with Chad. The most important of the new ambassadors, Sarah Pocock, Chad's sister, harshly dismisses Strether's impression that Chad has improved, condemns Marie as an indecent woman, and demands that Chad immediately return to the family business in America. To escape his troubles, Strether takes a brief tour of the French countryside, and accidentally encounters Chad and Marie at a rural inn; he then comprehends the full extent of their romance. After returning to Paris, he counsels Chad not to leave Marie; but Strether finds he is now uncomfortable in Europe. In the end, he declines Maria Gostrey's virtual marriage proposal and returns to America. Major themes Henry James got the central idea for The Ambassadors from an anecdote about his friend and fellow-novelist William Dean Howells, who, whilst visiting his son in Paris, was so impressed with the amenities of European culture, that he wondered aloud if life hadn't passed him by; from that intriguing suggestion grew Strether's long speech to Little Bilham about living "all you can".................

Complete digitally restored reprint (facsimile handmade reproduction) of the original edition of 1882 with excellent resolution and outstanding readability. The layout is +30 % larger as the original for a better readability. "The Portrait of a Lady" is a novel by Henry James, first published as a serial in The Atlantic Monthly and Macmillan's Magazine in 1880-81 and then as a book in 1881. It is one of James's most popular long novels, and is regarded by critics as one of his finest.

Italian HoursByHenry JamesItalian Hours is a book of travel writing by Henry James published in 1909. The book collected essays that James had written over nearly forty years about a country he knew and loved well. James extensively revised and sometimes expanded the essays to create a more consistent whole. He also added two new essays and an introduction. Italian Hours ends with the phrase, "the luxury of loving Italy," and everything in the book indicates that James enjoyed this luxury to the fullest. But he was by no means a blind lover. His opening essay on Venice, for instance, doesn't gloss over the sad conditions of life for the city's people: "Their habitations are decayed; their taxes heavy; their pockets light; their opportunities few." CONTENTSPREFACEVENICETHE GRAND CANALVENICE: AN EARLY IMPRESSIONTWO OLD HOUSES AND THREE YOUNG WOMENCASA ALVISIFROM CHAMB RY TO MILANTHE OLD SAINT-GOTHARD LEAVES FROM A NOTE-BOOKITALY REVISITEDA ROMAN HOLIDAYROMAN RIDESROMAN NEIGHBOURHOODSTHE AFTER-SEASON IN ROMEFROM A ROMAN NOTE-BOOKA FEW OTHER ROMAN NEIGHBOURHOODSA CHAIN OF CITIESSIENA EARLY AND LATETHE AUTUMN IN FLORENCEFLORENTINE NOTESTUSCAN CITIESOTHER TUSCAN CITIESRAVENNATHE SAINT'S AFTERNOON AND OTHERS

The American by Henry James - The American is a novel by Henry James, originally published as a serial in The Atlantic Monthly in 1876