{"product_id":"portrait-of-a-lady","title":"Portrait Of A Lady","description":"\u003cp\u003eRegarded by many as Henry James''s finest work, and a lucid tragedy exploring the distance between money and happiness, \u003ci\u003eThe Portrait of a Lady\u003c\/i\u003e contains an introduction by Philip Horne in Penguin Classics.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen 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. Then she finds herself irresistibly drawn to Gilbert Osmond. Charming and cultivated, Osmond sees Isabel as a rich prize waiting to be taken. Beneath his veneer of civilized behaviour, Isabel discovers cruelty and a stifling darkness. In this portrait of a ''young woman affronting her destiny'', Henry James created one of his most magnificent heroines, and a story of intense poignancy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis edition of \u003ci\u003eThe Portrait of a Lady\u003c\/i\u003e, based on the earliest published copy of the novel, is the version read first and loved by most readers in James''s lifetime. It also contains a chronology, further reading, notes and an introduction by Philip Horne.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHenry James (1843-1916) son of a prominent theologian, and brother to the philosopher William James, was one of the most celebrated novelists of the \u003ci\u003efin-de-siècle\u003c\/i\u003e. In addition to many short stories, plays, books of criticism, biography and autobiography, and much travel writing, he wrote some twenty novels. His novella \u003ci\u003eDaisy Miller\u003c\/i\u003e (1878) established him as a literary figure on both sides of the Atlantic, and his other novels in Penguin Classics include \u003ci\u003eWashington Square\u003c\/i\u003e (1880), \u003ci\u003eThe Portrait of a Lady\u003c\/i\u003e (1881), \u003ci\u003eThe Awkward Age\u003c\/i\u003e (1899), \u003ci\u003eThe Wings of the Dove \u003c\/i\u003e(1902), \u003ci\u003eThe Ambassadors\u003c\/i\u003e (1903) and \u003ci\u003eThe Golden Bowl\u003c\/i\u003e (1904).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf you enjoyed \u003ci\u003eThe Portrait of a Lady\u003c\/i\u003e, you might like Edith Wharton''s \u003ci\u003eThe Age of Innocence\u003c\/i\u003e, also available in Penguin Classics.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''Matchless, a grave description of one of life''s great traumas, the passage from innocence to experience''\u003cbr\u003eAnita Brookner\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"MediaPlace","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57305332187518,"sku":"NW9780141441269","price":10.49,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1379\/1261\/files\/9780141441269.jpg?v=1779991342","url":"https:\/\/mediaplace.com\/products\/portrait-of-a-lady","provider":"MediaPlace","version":"1.0","type":"link"}