HENRY JAMES (1843-1916). American novelist, play-wright, essayist and critic, he remains one of the most influential literary figures writing at the turn of the century.
James saw himself as a detached spectator of life, and his early published works recount his experiences. His first novel, Roderick Hudson (1875), is concerned with the failure of an American sculptor in Rome, and his novels The American (1877) and The Europeans (1878) are centred around the differences between the two continents. Attracted by the intellectual and social hierarchy that Parisseemed to offer, James lived there for one year...
This light-hearted masterpiece tells of the influence Eugenia and her brother Felix exert on their Bostonian cousins when they visit the New World.
In the hope of making a wealthy marriage, Eugenia, the Baroness MOnster, and her younger brother, the artist Felix, descend on the Wentworths, in Boston. Installed in a nearby house, they become close friends with the younger Wentworths - Gertrude, Charlotte and Clifford.
Eugenia"s wit, guile and sophistication, and Felix"s debonair vivacity form an uneasy alliance with the Puritan morality and the frugal, domestic virtues of the Americans. A rich and delicately balanced comedy of manners, The Europeans weighs the values of the established order against those of New England society, but makes no simple judgements, only subtle contrasts and beautifully observed comparisons.