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. Henry James (1843-1916)
son of a prominent theologian, and brother to the philosopher
William James, was one of the most celebrated novelists of the
fin-de-siecle. In addition to many short stories, plays, books of
criticism, biography and autobiography, and much travel writing, he
wrote some twenty novels. His novella Daisy Miller (1878)
established him as a literary figure on both sides of the Atlantic,
and his other novels in Penguin Classics include Washington Square
(1880), The Portrait of a Lady (1881), The Awkward Age (1899), The
Wings of the Dove (1902), The Ambassadors (1903) and The Golden
Bowl (1904). If you enjoyed The Portrait of a Lady, you might like
Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence, also available in Penguin
Classics. 'Matchless, a grave description of one of life's great
traumas, the passage from innocence to experience' Anita Brookner
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