Set in 1870s Boston, this fiction explores the emerging women's suffrage movement through the story of Olive Chancellor, a passionate feminist who becomes devoted to young orator Verena Tarrant. When Olive's charismatic cousin Basil arrives from the South, he challenges both women's convictions in James's nuanced examination of 19th-century American social and political tensions.
"Olive will come down in about ten minutes; she told me to tell you that. About ten; that is exactly like Olive. Neither five nor fifteen, and yet not ten exactly, but either nine or eleven. She didn't tell me to say she was glad to see you, because she doesn't know whether she is or not, and she wouldn't for the world expose herself to telling a fib. She is very honest, is Olive Chancellor; she is full of rectitude. Nobody tells fibs in Boston; I don't know what to make of them all. Well, I am very glad to see you, at any rate." These words were spoken with much volubility by a fair, plump, smiling woman who entered a narrow drawing-room in which a visitor, kept waiting for a few moments, was already absorbed in a book. The gentleman had not even needed to sit down to become interested: apparently he had taken up the volume from a table as soon as he came in, and, standing there, after …Continue reading →
Born in 1843, this American expatriate spent most of his career in Europe, crafting psychologically complex novels that explored the clash between American innocence and European sophistication. His innovative narrative techniques and deep character studies in works like The Portrait of a Lady helped establish the modern literary novel. All works by Henry James →
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