The Portrait of a Lady

When Isabel Archer, a young American woman with looks, wit, and imagination, arrives in Europe, she sees the world as a place of brightness, of free expression, of irresistible action . She turns aside from suitors who offer her their wealth and devotion to follow her own path. But that way leads to disillusionment and a future as constricted as a dark narrow alley with a dead wall at the end . In a conclusion that is one of the most moving in modern fiction, Isabel makes her final choice. The Portrait of a Lady is considered the masterpiece of James's middle period, and Isabel is perhaps his most engaging central character. This edition provides a challenging new introduction and detailed notes; the text is that of the New York Edition and includes Henry James's own Preface.