The Bostonians
$59.26
- Hardcover
496 pages
- Release Date
15 May 1992
Summary
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, veteran of the Civil War, with rigid views concerning society and women’s place therein. Is the lovely, lighthearted Verena made for public movements or private passions? A struggle to possess her, body and soul, develops between Olive and Basil. The exploitation of Verena’s unregenerate innocence reflects a society whose moral and cultural values are failing to survive the new dawn of liberalism and democracy. The Bostonians (1886) was not welcomed by James’s fellow countrymen, who failed to appreciate its delicacy and wit; but a century later, this book is widely regarded as James’s finest American fiction, and perhaps his comic masterpiece.
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781857150827 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 1857150821 |
| Author: | Henry James |
| Publisher: | Everyman |
| Imprint: | Everyman's Library |
| Format: | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages: | 496 |
| Release Date: | 15 May 1992 |
| Weight: | 528g |
| Dimensions: | 27mm x 132mm x 210mm |
| Series: | Everyman's Library CLASSICS |
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Henry James
Henry James was born on April 15, 1843, in Washington Place, New York. He hailed from a wealthy and intellectual family and, as a youth, traveled extensively between Europe and America, receiving tutelage in Geneva, London, Paris, Bologna, and Bonn.
He briefly and unsuccessfully studied law at Harvard before dedicating himself to reading and writing fiction. His first novel, Watch and Ward, was published in 1871, having initially appeared serially in Atlantic Monthly.
After a short period in Paris, James relocated to London and later settled in Rye, Sussex. In 1915, he became a British citizen, an act of loyalty to his adopted country and a protest against America’s initial neutrality in World War I.
A prolific writer and critic, Henry James maintained a rigorous publication schedule from around 1875 until his death in 1916. His diverse body of work includes novels, short story collections, literary criticism, travel writing, biography, and autobiography.
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