Showing results by author "Henry James" in All Categories

Following a violent and messy divorce, young Maisie Farange floats back and forth between her parents, Beale and Ida, who use her as a weapon to torment each other in their ongoing, internecine war. Eventually the parents both remarry, and it becomes clear that the new spouses care more for Maisie than her own parents. Beale and Ida soon embark on a series of extramarital affairs, leaving Maisie in the care of the new step-parents, who begin their own affair with each other.

Beautiful Kate Croy may have been left penniless by her relatives, but her bold, ambitious nature ensures she will not succumb meekly to a life of poverty. If the financial circumstances of Merton Densher, the man she is passionately in love with, are not sufficient to secure her future, perhaps her cunning will.

Fiction is an Art in every way, worthy to be called the sister and the equal of the Arts of Painting, Sculpture, Music, and Poetry; that is to say, her field is as boundless, her possibilities as vast, her excellences as worthy of admiration, as may be claimed for any of her sister Arts.

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 novels and is regarded by critics as one of his finest.

In 'Washington Square' James treats on a subject about which he was passionate - the relationship between parents and their children. Dr Sloper, a wealthy man, is in a difficult position. His son has died aged three years old. His wife also dies within two weeks of giving birth to their surviving daughter Catherine. She is a plain awkward child, yet capable of giving immense affection. She becomes fascinated by would-be man of the world Morris Townsend, falling in love with him very swiftly. Is Morris a fortune hunter?

Travelling in Europe with her family, Daisy Miller, an exquisitely beautiful young American woman, presents her fellow countryman Winterbourne with a dilemma he cannot resolve. Is she deliberately flouting social convention in the outspoken way she talks and acts, or is she simply ignorant of those conventions? When she strikes up an intimate friendship with an urbane young Italian, her flat refusal to observe the codes of respectable behaviour leave her perilously exposed.

Henry James's novel, dramatised by Rachel Joyce. Young and beautiful, Isabel Archer thinks that she is in control of her fate. Little does she know, however, that others behind the scenes are pulling the strings. The beautiful and free-spirited Isabel Archer is now a very rich woman. Two men have declared their love for her but she does not want to be married. Resolved to enjoy her fortune, she begins her travels. Starring Anna Maxwell Martin, Haydn Gwynne, Robert Bathurst, Gayle Hunnicutt and full cast. Pianist Duncan Walsh Atkins. Directed by Tracey Neale.

Pressured into a political career by his traditional, establishmentarian family, Nick Dormer longs to be a painter. Eventually, encouraged by the carefree aesthete Gabriel Nash, reminiscent of Oscar Wilde, he resigns from Parliament and follows his artistic dream. His journey is counterpointed with that of budding young actress Miriam Rooth, the subject of Nick's most successful paintings, and the "tragic muse" of the title, who too sacrifices an affluent life (marriage with Nick's cousin Peter) for her art.

Step into the world of intrigue and revolution with "The Princess Casamassima" by Henry James. This audiobook takes you on a thrilling journey through the labyrinthine streets of 19th-century London, where the worlds of the aristocracy and the working class collide. With James' exquisite prose and keen social commentary, the narrative explores themes of class struggle, political activism, and the search for identity. The story offers a captivating portrayal of the characters' moral dilemmas and their quest for purpose in a rapidly changing world.

"What 2ManyDJs did for pop music, this book does for spooky classic kids' stories. Garner, Cooper, Serraillier, Baum, Lewis, Pullman, Gaiman, they all make glorious cameos and get gleefully remixed into one universe. Clever, atmospheric, heartily recommended" YA fantasy audiobook from writer James Henry (Green Wing, Smack The Pony, Shaun The Sheep, Hey Duggee). Each episode approx 20mins. Written for younger teens, but if you grew up reading children's books from the Seventies and Eighties you might find it's a little bit for you as well.

Discover the intriguing world of "The Wheel of Time" by Henry James. This audiobook presents a captivating short story that delves into themes of fate, destiny, and the passage of time. With James' eloquent prose, you'll be drawn into a tale that explores the choices we make and their far-reaching consequences. The story offers a reflection on the human condition and the intricate web of circumstances that shape our lives. Through its finely crafted characters and contemplative narrative, it provides a thought-provoking exploration of the mysteries of existence.

Taking place in Boston, Massachusetts, a decade after the Civil War, The Bostonians tells the story of two cousins who battle for the affections of and control over an enchanting prophetess. While visiting his cousin Olive Chancellor, a fierce feminist deeply involved in the Suffragette movement, Basil Ransom, a Confederate Civil War veteran turned lawyer, attends a speech by the talented young orator Verena Tarrant. Basil quickly falls in love with Verena, although he disagrees with her politics; Olive, however, sees her as the future of the women's rights movement.

From Boston's social underworld emerges Verena Tarrant, a girl with extraordinary oratorical gifts, which she deploys in tawdry meeting-houses on behalf of "the sisterhood of women." She acquires two admirers of a very different stamp: Olive Chancellor, devotee of radical causes and marked out for tragedy; and Basil Ransom, a veteran of the Civil War who holds rigid views concerning society and women's place therein. Is the lovely, lighthearted Verena made for public movements or private passions?

This terse and startling novel is the story of a struggle for possession and of its devastating consequences. Three women seek to secure the affections of one man, while he, in turn, tries to satisfy them all. But in the middle of this contest of wills stands his unwitting and vulnerable young daughter. The conclusion of The Other House makes it one of the most disturbing and memorable of Henry James' depictions of the uncontrollable passions that lie beneath the polished veneer of civilized life.

Henry James' 1898 novella is one of the world's greatest ghost stories. Told by an unnamed governess who accepts a position looking after two children at a remote English country manor, the story is famously ambiguous. The governess gradually comes to believe that the house - and the two seemingly angelic children, Miles and Flora - are haunted by the ghosts of her predecessor and her brutish lover. But are the ghosts actually real? Or is the governess slowly going mad?

In what Henry James called a 'trap for the unwary', The Turn of the Screw tells of a nameless young governess sent to a country house to take charge of two orphans, Miles and Flora. Unsettled by a dark foreboding of menace within the house, she soon comes to believe that something malevolent is stalking the children in her care. But is the threat to her young charges really a malign and ghostly presence or something else entirely?

Hyacinth Robinson, drawn into the London underworld of revolutionary politics, vows to assassinate an enemy of the people. His exposure to the Princess Casamassima's world of art, nobility, and beauty leads him to lose faith in his cause.

Bachelor John Marcher is haunted by the premonition that something terrible lies in store for him, like a "beast in the jungle" lying in wait. So he spends his life in idleness, unable to carry out his dreams or desires, while his friend May Bartram, curious to see how this spectacular fate will manifest, helps watch out for the arrival of the beast.

July 1983, Essex. A boy playing hide-and-seek sees a fox tugging at something up on a railway embankment. He approaches it cautiously. Seconds later, a blast is heard, and rooks ascend from the poplars surrounding the farmhouse at which the boy is spending his summer holiday with cousins. DI Nick Lowry is called upon to investigate two deaths at Fox Farm, the home of eminent historian Christopher Cliff. The body in the farmhouse kitchen is Cliff himself, having seemingly taking his own life with an antique shotgun. The fox-disturbed body on the property boundary is as yet unidentified.

The governess was hired to look after two wonderful little children. The children’s uncle leaves explicit instructions that he is not to be bothered nor questioned in regard to the children; the governess is to have complete control. When the little boy returns from school under a cloud, it starts a terrifying series of ghostly encounters.