The Portrait of a Lady - Henry James

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About Henry James

The Portrait of a Lady

» Henry James

Editor/introduction - Geoffrey Moore

Notes by - Patricia Crick

Penguin Classic
Paperback : 30 Jan 2003

£6.99

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Edited with an introduction by Geoffrey Moore
Notes by Patricia Crick
Includes Henry James’s own preface
Further reading by Richard Maxwell

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Synopsis

‘I don’t want to begin life by marrying. There are other things a woman can do ‘

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 Penguin Classics edition includes an introduction and full explanatory notes, with a new chronology, further reading by Richard Maxwell, as well as Henry James’s own illuminating Preface.