This Wordsworth Edition includes an exclusive Introduction by Pat Righelato, University of Reading.
The child of parents who divorce, remarry and then embark on adulterous affairs, Maisie Farange survives by her intelligence and spirit.
For all its sombre theme of childhood innocence exposed to a corrupted adult world, this novel is one of James's comic masterpieces. The outrageous behaviour of the characters on the seedy fringes of the English upper class is conveyed with wit and relish. The dual perspective of a sophisticated narrator richly appreciative of the absurdities of the adult sexual merry-go-round and the candid vision of Maisie, 'rebounding' from one parent to another like a 'shuttlecock', together create an 'associational magic'.
Strangely, unexpectedly, from so much that is tawdry, comes a tale of moral energy and subtlety. James's foresight was in understanding the modernity of his subject, which is even more relevant today in the twenty-first century.
Review
James' finest working of his preoccupation with the theme of innocence corrupted... James is the master of making what is not said the most important thing on the page (Kate Atkinson )
Contains some of his best comedy and some of his most melancholy insights...embodies everything that James excelled at in fiction (Paul Theroux )
Henry James is as solitary in the history of the novel as Shakespeare is in the history of poetry (Graham Greene )
Perfect (F. R. Leavis )
An ugly little comedy (Henry James )
Book Description
'A very modern story about aimless lives and messy marriages' Paul Theroux
Library : General
Formats : EPUB
ISBN : 9780140432480