The Portrait of a Lady

Dec 12, 2025 7:50 PM

Author:Henry James,Geoffrey Moore,Geoffrey Moore,Patricia Crick

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. It is only when she finds herself irresistibly drawn to the cultivated but worthless Gilbert Osmond that she discovers that wealth is a two-edged sword and that there is a price to be paid for independence. With its subtle delineation of American characters in a European setting, Portrait of a Lady is one of the most accomplished and popular of Henry James's early novels.

Reviews

Celebrate Adrian Mole's 50th Birthday with this new edition of the fourth book in his diaries, where we catch up with a hapless Adrian and his desperate attempts to win back the love of his life

—— from publisher's description

A classic. The Adrian Mole diaries are thoroughly subversive. A true hero for our time

—— Richard Ingrams

Enormously funny

—— Sunday Telegraph

Adrian Mole really is a brilliant comic creation

—— The Times

The funniest person in the world

—— Caitlin Moran

He has not written a better or more skilful farce

—— Financial Times

Britain's leading practitioner of black humour

—— Punch

The year's most impressive debut

—— John Carey , Sunday Times

Like Donna Tartt’s "The Secret History" or a good film noir . . . Jane’s low-key narration has just the right tone to keep readers hooked

—— People magazine

The strength of 'The Lake of Dead Languages' is a silken prose that lures the reader into Goodman’s . . . story of murder, suicide . . . revenge, and madness

—— The Washington Post Book World

Part suspense, part coming-of-age, and all-enthralling . . . A book that needs the roar of a fire to ward off its psychic chill

—— The Denver Post

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