Most Popular Books by Henry James

THE AMBASSADORS by Henry James 1843-1916

In "The Altar of the Dead," Henry James intricately weaves a poignant narrative exploring themes of love, loss, and remembrance within the context of a Protestant church in New York City. The novella''s literary style is characterized by James''s signature psychological depth and subtle characterizations, presenting the internal struggles of the protagonist as he grapples with mourning and faith. Set against the backdrop of the late 19th century, it reflects the period''s preoccupation with existential questions, melding realism with a meditative tone that invites readers to reflect on the rituals of memory and the sacredness of loss. Henry James, an eminent figure in American literature and a key precursor to modernist thought, often drew upon his extensive travels and deep engagement with European culture, particularly the complexities of individual psyche. This exploration of spiritual themes can be seen as a response to his own grappling with identity, culture, and the transformative power of love and grief throughout his literary career, which is further marked by a dual American-British perspective. I highly recommend "The Altar of the Dead" to readers interested in nuanced character studies and the interplay of personal and universal grief. This novella not only exemplifies James''s mastery of language and psychological insight but also resonates deeply with contemporary questions about the meaning of remembrance and the rituals we create in the wake of loss.

Welcome to the captivating world of "The Death of the Lion" by Henry James, a gripping tale of ambition, betrayal, and the price of success in the cutthroat world of literary journalism. Prepare to be drawn into the high-stakes world of London''s literary elite as James weaves a masterful narrative of intrigue and deception. Set against the backdrop of the bustling metropolis, this engrossing story follows the rise and fall of Neil Paraday, a celebrated author whose life becomes entangled with the machinations of the publishing industry. Join James as he delves into the complexities of artistic integrity, personal ambition, and the allure of fame and fortune. Through his incisive prose and keen observations, he offers readers a thought-provoking exploration of the tensions between artistic creation and commercial success. "The Death of the Lion" is more than just a story—it''s a reflection on the nature of fame, celebrity, and the sacrifices we make in pursuit of our dreams. James''s penetrating insights and rich characterizations bring to life the inner workings of the literary world with depth and nuance. The overall tone of the novel is one of suspense and intrigue, as James keeps readers guessing until the very end. Through his skillful storytelling and subtle narrative twists, he creates a compelling portrait of a man caught between the demands of his art and the pressures of the marketplace. Since its publication, "The Death of the Lion" has been hailed as a masterpiece of psychological fiction, beloved by readers for its richly drawn characters, evocative setting, and timeless themes. Its exploration of the conflict between artistic integrity and commercial success continues to resonate with audiences of all backgrounds. Whether you''re a fan of classic literature, a lover of mysteries, or simply someone looking for a thought-provoking read, "The Death of the Lion" promises an unforgettable literary experience. Prepare to be captivated, enthralled, and ultimately moved by Henry James''s brilliant exploration of the human condition. Experience the intrigue of "The Death of the Lion" today. Order your copy now and immerse yourself in a world of ambition, betrayal, and the quest for artistic integrity.

The plot of Washington Square has the simplicity of old-fashioned melodrama: a plain-looking, good-hearted young woman, the only child of a rich widower, is pursued by a charming but unscrupulous man who seeks the wealth she will presumably inherit. On this premise, Henry James constructed one of his most memorable novels, a story in which love is answered with betrayal and loyalty leads inexorably to despair."-- from the Introduction by Peter ConnIn Washington Square (1880), Henry James reminisces about the New York he had known thirty years before as he tells the story of Catherine Sloper and her fortune-seeking suitor Morris Townsend. This perceptively drawn human drama is James'' most accessible work and an enduring literary triumph.Includes a biography of the author.

At the little town of Vevey, in Switzerland, there is a particularly comfortable hotel. There are, indeed, many hotels, for the entertainment of tourists is the business of the place, which, as many travelers will remember, is seated upon the edge of a remarkably blue lake-a lake that it behooves every tourist to visit. The shore of the lake presents an unbroken array of establishments of this order, of every category, from the "grand hotel" of the newest fashion, with a chalk-white front, a hundred balconies, and a dozen flags flying from its roof, to the little Swiss pension of an elder day, with its name inscribed in German-looking lettering upon a pink or yellow wall and an awkward summerhouse in the angle of the garden. One of the hotels at Vevey, however, is famous, even classical, being distinguished from many of its upstart neighbors by an air both of luxury and of maturity.

The Ambassadors is a 1903 novel by Henry James, originally published as a serial in the North American Review (NAR). The novel is a dark comedy which follows the trip of protagonist Lewis Lambert Strether to Europe in pursuit of Chad Newsome, his widowed fiancée''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. Lambert Strether, a middle-aged, yet not broadly experienced, man from Woollett, Massachusetts, agrees to assume a mission for his wealthy fiancée: 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 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.

The Aspern Papers is about a researcher searching for some love letters written by a great poet to a young woman he was thought to love when he himself was young. The researcher finds that the woman, now very old, is living in an old palace in Venice on very limited means. In an attempt to secure the papers, he rents a room in her dilapidated palace and attempts to worm his way into her regard by promising to restore her flower garden. The old woman has a young niece living with her and looking after her, and the researcher finally attempts to get at the papers through the niece. This is a tight-knit suspense story, the tension of which increases as the old woman lies dying. It is one of Henry James'' must-read novellas, in a class with The Turn of the Screw.

This story is about Allan Wayworth, a struggling playwright, who has written a play titled "Nona Vincent". This is his first play and he is not quite sure of it''s worth, nor how to go about getting it accepted and produced. But he has the strong support of Mrs. Alsager, a wealthy lady who believes in him and believes in his play. After a lengthy series of rejections, the play, with the help of Mrs. Alsager, is finally brought to the stage. (Goodreads)

This eBook features the unabridged text of ‘Notes of a Son and Brother’ from the bestselling edition of ‘The Complete Works of Henry James’. Having established their name as the leading publisher of classic literature and art, Delphi Classics produce publications that are individually crafted with superior formatting, while introducing many rare texts for the first time in digital print. The Delphi Classics edition of James includes original annotations and illustrations relating to the life and works of the author, as well as individual tables of contents, allowing you to navigate eBooks quickly and easily. eBook features: * The complete unabridged text of ‘Notes of a Son and Brother’ * Beautifully illustrated with images related to James’s works * Individual contents table, allowing easy navigation around the eBook * Excellent formatting of the textPlease visit www.delphiclassics.com to learn more about our wide range of titles

Regarded as one of Henry James'' finest works, the short story "The Beast in the Jungle" centers around protagonist John Marcher and his seemingly bizarre phobia -- a pervasive sense of doom that prevents him from living his life to the fullest and precludes the possibility of him ever finding true love. This fascinating read highlights the psychological complexity that has earned James'' fiction so much critical acclaim.Includes a biography of the author.

The story had held us, round the fire, sufficiently breathless, but except the obvious remark that it was gruesome, as, on Christmas Eve in an old house, a strange tale should essentially be, I remember no comment uttered till somebody happened to say that it was the only case he had met in which such a visitation had fallen on a child. The case, I may mention, was that of an apparition in just such an old house as had gathered us for the occasion—an appearance, of a dreadful kind, to a little boy sleeping in the room with his mother and waking her up in the terror of it; waking her not to dissipate his dread and soothe him to sleep again, but to encounter also, herself, before she had succeeded in doing so, the same sight that had shaken him. It was this observation that drew from Douglas—not immediately, but later in the evening—a reply that had the interesting consequence to which I call attention. Someone else told a story not particularly effective, which I saw he was not following. This I took for a sign that he had himself something to produce and that we should only have to wait. We waited in fact till two nights later; but that same evening, before we scattered, he brought out what was in his mind. "I quite agree—in regard to Griffin''s ghost, or whatever it was—that its appearing first to the little boy, at so tender an age, adds a particular touch. But it''s not the first occurrence of its charming kind that I know to have involved a child. If the child gives the effect another turn of the screw, what do you say to TWO children—?" "We say, of course," somebody exclaimed, "that they give two turns! Also that we want to hear about them." I can see Douglas there before the fire, to which he had got up to present his back, looking down at his interlocutor with his hands in his pockets. "Nobody but me, till now, has ever heard. It''s quite too horrible." This, naturally, was declared by several voices to give the thing the utmost price, and our friend, with quiet art, prepared his triumph by turning his eyes over the rest of us and going on: "It''s beyond everything. Nothing at all that I know touches it."...

The Turn of the Screw is a short novel or a novella written by American writer Henry James. Originally published in 1898, it is ostensibly a ghost story that has lent itself well to operatic and film adaptation. Due to its ambiguous content and narrative skill, The Turn of the Screw became a favorite text of New Criticism.The account has lent itself to dozens of different interpretations, often mutually exclusive, including those of a Freudian nature. Many critics have tried to determine what exactly is the nature of evil within the story.

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 determine her own fate, does not hesitate to turn down two eligible suitors. She then finds herself irresistibly drawn to Gilbert Osmond, who, beneath his veneer of charm and cultivation, is cruelty itself. A story of intense poignancy, Isabel''s tale of love and betrayal still resonates with modern audiences.

This eBook features the unabridged text of ‘A Small Boy and Others’ from the bestselling edition of ‘The Complete Works of Henry James’. Having established their name as the leading publisher of classic literature and art, Delphi Classics produce publications that are individually crafted with superior formatting, while introducing many rare texts for the first time in digital print. The Delphi Classics edition of James includes original annotations and illustrations relating to the life and works of the author, as well as individual tables of contents, allowing you to navigate eBooks quickly and easily. eBook features: * The complete unabridged text of ‘A Small Boy and Others’ * Beautifully illustrated with images related to James’s works * Individual contents table, allowing easy navigation around the eBook * Excellent formatting of the textPlease visit www.delphiclassics.com to learn more about our wide range of titles

No, no-there are depths, depths! The more I go over it, the more I see in it, and the more I see in it, the more I fear. I don''t know what I don''t see-what I don''t fear!".... Henry James In "The Turn of the Screw", Henry James has created a different kind of ghost story; what he later described as "the strange and sinister embroidered on the very type of the normal and easy." Although the imagery is reminiscent of the gothic genre, the approach is more subtle, inviting the reader to ponder the true nature of the evil that may be present.

This eBook features the unabridged text of ‘Daisy Miller’ from the bestselling edition of ‘The Complete Works of Henry James’. Having established their name as the leading publisher of classic literature and art, Delphi Classics produce publications that are individually crafted with superior formatting, while introducing many rare texts for the first time in digital print. The Delphi Classics edition of James includes original annotations and illustrations relating to the life and works of the author, as well as individual tables of contents, allowing you to navigate eBooks quickly and easily. eBook features: * The complete unabridged text of ‘Daisy Miller’ * Beautifully illustrated with images related to James’s works * Individual contents table, allowing easy navigation around the eBook * Excellent formatting of the textPlease visit www.delphiclassics.com to learn more about our wide range of titles

This is Henry James special novel fiction published in 1898 that was critically acclaimed. the novel is base on ghost story and supernatural being. The story still get great reviews and contemporary reaction from both current student of classic literature and novel lovers.

The Portrait of a Lady (Penguin Classics) Regarded by many as Henry James''s finest work, and a lucid tragedy exploring the distance between money and happiness, The Portrait of a Lady contains an introduction by Philip Horne in Penguin Classics. 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. Then she finds herself irresistibly drawn to Gilbert Osmond. Charming and cultivated, Osmond sees Isabel as a rich prize waiting to be taken. Beneath his veneer of civilized behaviour, Isabel discovers cruelty and a stifling darkness. In this portrait of a ''young woman affronting her destiny'', Henry James created one of his most magnificent heroines, and a story of intense poignancy. This edition of The Portrait of a Lady, based on the earliest published copy of the novel, is the version read first and loved by most readers in James''s lifetime. It also contains a chronology, further reading, notes and an introduction by Philip Horne. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Regarded by many as Henry James''s finest work, and a lucid tragedy exploring the distance between money and happiness, The Portrait of a Lady contains an introduction by Philip Horne in Penguin Classics. 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. Then she finds herself irresistibly drawn to Gilbert Osmond. Charming and cultivated, Osmond sees Isabel as a rich prize waiting to be taken. Beneath his veneer of civilized behaviour, Isabel discovers cruelty and a stifling darkness. In this portrait of a ''young woman affronting her destiny'', Henry James created one of his most magnificent heroines, and a story of intense poignancy. This edition of The Portrait of a Lady, based on the earliest published copy of the novel, is the version read first and loved by most readers in James''s lifetime. It also contains a chronology, further reading, notes and an introduction by Philip Horne.

Portrait of a Lady - Henry JamesClassic LiteratureThe 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."The Portrait of a Lady" was, like "Roderick Hudson," begun in Florence, during three months spent there in the spring of 1879. Like "Roderick" and like "The American," it had been designed for publication in "The Atlantic Monthly," where it began to appear in 1880. It differed from its two predecessors, however, in finding a course also open to it, from month to month, in "Macmillan''s Magazine"; which was to be for me one of the last occasions of simultaneous "serialisation" in the two countries that the changing conditions of literary intercourse between England and the United States had up to then left unaltered. It is a long novel, and I was long in writing it; I remember being again much occupied with it, the following year, during a stay of several weeks made in Venice. I had rooms on Riva Schiavoni, at the top of a house near the passage leading off to San Zaccaria; the waterside life, the wondrous lagoon spread before me, and the ceaseless human chatter of Venice came in at my windows, to which I seem to myself to have been constantly driven, in the fruitless fidget of composition, as if to see whether, out in the blue channel, the ship of some right suggestion, of some better phrase, of the next happy twist of my subject, the next true touch for my canvas, mightn''t come into sight. But I recall vividly enough that the response most elicited, in general, to these restless appeals was the rather grim admonition that romantic and historic sites, such as the land of Italy abounds in, offer the artist a questionable aid to concentration when they themselves are not to be the subject of it. They are too rich in their own life and too charged with their own meanings merely to help him out with a lame phrase; they draw him away from his small question to their own greater ones; so that, after a little, he feels, while thus yearning toward them in his difficulty, as if he were asking an army of glorious veterans to help him to arrest a peddler who has given him the wrong change.

One of the great heroines of American literature, Isabel Archer, journeys to Europe in order to, as Henry James writes in his 1908 Preface, "affront her destiny." James began The Portrait of a Lady without a plot or subject, only the slim but provocative notion of a young woman taking control of her fate. The result is a richly imagined study of an American heiress who turns away her suitors in an effort to first establish-and then protect-her independence. But Isabel''s pursuit of spiritual freedom collapses when she meets the captivating Gilbert Osmond. "James''s formidable powers of observation, his stance as a kind of bachelor recorder of human doings in which he is not involved," writes Hortense Calisher, "make him a first-class documentarian, joining him to that great body of storytellers who amass what formal history cannot."

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 fiancée''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.

The Golden Bowl is a 1904 novel by Henry James. Set in England, this complex, intense study of marriage and adultery completes what some critics have called the "major phase" of James'' career. The Golden Bowl explores the tangle of interrelationships between a father and daughter and their respective spouses.

The Wings of the Dove by Henry James