The Portrait of a Lady is a novel by Henry James, first published as a serial in The Atlantic Monthly and Macmillan's Magazine in 1880–81 and then as a book in 1881. It is one of James's most popular long novels, and is regarded by critics as one of his finest. The...

The Turn of the Screw, originally published in 1898, is a gothic ghost story novel written by Henry James.. A nameless governess reports the events of two ghosts who stalk the young children she has charge over. Is she reliable, or an imaginative neurotic?  Henry James'...

Lady Barbarina is a novella by Henry James first published in 1884. Rich and beautiful American girls heading to England to find themselves noble titles through marriage, and using their New World wealth to prop up the waning strength of the aristocracy, was almost a...

The Turn of the Screw, originally published in 1898, is a gothic ghost story novel written by Henry James. A nameless governess reports the events of two ghosts who stalk the young children she has charge over. Is she reliable, or an imaginative neurotic? Henry James'...

The Portrait of a Lady is a novel by Henry James, first published as a serial in The Atlantic Monthly and Macmillan's Magazine in 1880–81 and then as a book in 1881. It is one of James's most popular long novels, and is regarded by critics as one of his finest. The...

The Birthplace is a short story by Henry James, first published in his collection The Better Sort in 1903. A witty satire on the excesses of the worship of William Shakespeare, the story reflects James's skepticism about the authorship of Shakespeare's plays. The story...

The Beast in the Jungle is a 1903 novella by Henry James, first published as part of the collection, The Better Sort.  Almost universally considered one of James' finest short narratives, this story treats appropriately universal themes: loneliness, fate, love and...

The Papers is a novella by Henry James, written in the autumn of 1902, with two other tales, to make up a collection published in the book The better sort in 1903. Today the world is awash with “celebrities” whose only accomplishment is being celebrated by the media...

The Pupil is a short story by Henry James, first published in Longman's Magazine in 1891. It is the emotional story of a precocious young boy growing up in a mendacious and dishonourable family. He befriends his tutor, who is the only adult in his life that he can trust....

The Aspern Papers is a novella written by Henry James, originally published in The Atlantic Monthly in 1888, with its first book publication later in the same year. One of James' best-known and most acclaimed longer tales, The Aspern Papers is based on the letters Percy...

The Europeans: A sketch is a novel by Henry James, published in 1878. It is essentially a comedy contrasting the behaviour and attitudes of two visitors from Europe with those of their relatives living in the 'new' world of New England. The tale opens in Boston and New...

The Figure in the Carpet is a novella published in 1896 in London, by Henry James. The story is told in the first person. The narrator, whose name is never revealed, meets his favorite author and becomes obsessed with discovering the secret meaning or intention within...

Originally published in 1880 as a serial in Cornhill Magazine and Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Washington Square is a structurally simple tragicomedy that recounts the conflict between a dull but sweet daughter and her brilliant, domineering father. The plot of the...

The Ambassadors is a 1903 novel by Henry James, originally published as a serial in the North American Review (NAR). This dark comedy, seen as one of the masterpieces of James's final period. Henry James considered The Ambassadors his best, or perhaps his best-wrought,...

What Maisie Knew is a novel by Henry James, first published as a serial in The Chap-Book and (revised and abridged) in the New Review in 1897 and then as a book later that year. It tells the story of the sensitive daughter of divorced, irresponsible parents. The book...

The Golden Bowl is a 1904 novel by Henry James. Set in England, this complex, intense study of marriage and adultery completes what some critics have called the "major phase" of James' career. The Golden Bowl explores the tangle of interrelationships between a father and...

The Beast in the Jungle is a 1903 novella by Henry James, first published as part of the collection, The Better Sort. Almost universally considered one of James' finest short narratives, this story treats appropriately universal themes: loneliness, fate, love and...

The Golden Bowl is a 1904 novel by Henry James. Set in England, this complex, intense study of marriage and adultery completes what some critics have called the "major phase" of James' career. The Golden Bowl explores the tangle of interrelationships between a father and...

Roderick Hudson is a novel by Henry James. Originally published in 1875 as a serial in The Atlantic Monthly, it is a bildungsroman that traces the development of the title character, a sculptor. Roderick Hudson is James's first important novel. The theme of Americans in...

Owen Wingrave is a novella by Henry James, first published in The Graphic in 1892 A young man of good family with a long distinguished military tradition indicates that he will not follow his ancestors' path into the army. Dire results ensue. Owen Wingrave is often...

Lady Barbarina is a novella by Henry James first published in 1884. Rich and beautiful American girls heading to England to find themselves noble titles through marriage, and using their New World wealth to prop up the waning strength of the aristocracy, was almost a...

Lord Beaupre is a novella by Henry James, first published in Scribner's Magazine in 1892, as the first of three tales for Macmillan’s magazine. What is a young man to do, when because of his pleasant disposition, and (of course) his considerable wealth, he finds...

Sir Edmund Orme is a short novel by Henry James, first published and included in the collection The Lesson of the Master, published in 1892. Henry James wrote a number of ghost stories, The Turn of the Screw being the most famous. Did he believe in ghosts himself, as...

The Reverberator is a short novel by Henry James, first published as a serial in Macmillan's Magazine in 1888 and then as a book later the same year. Described by the leading web authority on Henry James as "a delightful Parisian bonbon," the comedy traces the...

The Jolly Corner is a short story by Henry James published first in the magazine The English Review of December, 1908. One of James' most noted ghost stories, The Jolly Corner describes the adventures of Spencer Brydon as he prowls the now-empty New York house where he...

Owen Wingrave is a novella by Henry James, first published in The Graphic in 1892. A young man of good family with a long distinguished military tradition indicates that he will not follow his ancestors' path into the army. Dire results ensue. Owen Wingrave is often...

The Sacred Fount is a novel by Henry James, first published in 1901. This strange, often baffling book concerns an unnamed narrator who attempts to discover the truth about the love lives of his fellow-guests at a weekend party in the English countryside. He spurns the...

The Liar is a short story by Henry James, which first appeared in The Century Magazine in May-June 1888, and in book form 1889. It is the story of a young successful painter’s dilemma when he reconnects with the woman he once loved during a visit to an English country...

The Europeans: A sketch is a novel by Henry James, published in 1878. It is essentially a comedy contrasting the behaviour and attitudes of two visitors from Europe with those of their relatives living in the 'new' world of New England. The tale opens in Boston and New...

Daisy Miller is a novella by Henry James that first appeared in Cornhill Magazine in June–July 1878, and in book form the following year. It portrays the confused courtship of the beautiful American girl Daisy Miller by Winterbourne, a compatriot of hers with much more...

The Wings of the Dove is a 1902 novel by Henry James. This novel tells the story of Milly Theale, an American heiress stricken with a serious disease, and her effect on the people around her. Some of these people befriend Milly with honorable motives, while others are...