Book : The Portrait Of A Lady (penguin Vitae) - James, Henry

-Titulo Original : The Portrait Of A Lady (penguin Vitae)

-Fabricante :

Penguin Classics

-Descripcion Original:

Henry Jamess beloved masterpiece, now in a beautiful hardcover edition featuring Jamess groundbreaking essay The Art of Fiction, with a foreword by acclaimed novelist Brandon Taylor A Penguin Vitae EditionThe Portrait of a Lady is regarded by many as Henry Jamess finest work, and a lucid tragedy exploring the distance between money and happiness. 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. 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 behavior, 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. About the Author Henry James (1843-1916) was born in New York and died in London. In addition to many short stories, plays, and books of criticism, autobiography, and travel, he wrote some twenty novels, the first published being Roderick Hudson (1875). They include The Europeans, Washington Square, The Portrait of a Lady, The Bostonians, The Princess Casamassima, The Tragic Muse, The Spoils of Poynton, The Awkward Age, The Wings of the Dove, The Ambassadors, and The Golden Bowl. Brandon Taylor is the author of the acclaimed novel Real Life, which has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize, longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, and named a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, and Filthy Animals. He holds graduate degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Iowa, where he was an Iowa Arts Fellow at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop in fiction. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Isabel saw no more of her attributive victim for the next twenty-four hours, but on the second day after the visit to the opera she encountered him in the gallery of the Capitol, where he stood before the lion of the collection, the statue of the Dying Gladiator. She had come in with her companions, among whom, on this occasion again, Gilbert Osmond had his place, and the party, having ascended the staircase, entered the first and finest of the rooms. Lord Warburton addressed her alertly enough, but said in a moment that he was leaving the gallery. And Im leaving Rome, he added. I must bid you goodbye. Isabel, inconsequently enough, was now sorry to hear it. This was perhaps because she had ceased to be afraid of his renewing his suit; she was thinking of something else. She was on the point of naming her regret but she checked herself and simply wished him a happy journey; which made him look at her rather unlightedly. Im afraid youll think me very volatile. I told you the other day I wanted so much to stop.Oh no; you can easily change your mind.Thats what I have dome.Bon voyage then.Youre in a great hurry to get rid of me, said his lordship quite dismally.Not in the least. But I hate partings.You dont care what I do, he went on pitifully.Isabel looked at him a moment. Ah, she said, youre not keeping your promise!He coloured like a boy of fifteen. If Im not, then its because I cant; and thats why Im going.Good-bye then.Good-bye. He lingered still, however. When shall I see you again?Isabel hesitated, but soon, as if she had had a happy inspiration: Some day after youre married.That will never be. It will be after you are.That will do as well, she smiled.Yes, quite as well. Good-bye.They shook hands, and he left her alone in the glorious room, among the shining antique marbles. She sat down in the centre of the circle of these presences, regarding them vaguely, resting h