The Portrait of a Lady

Capturing the grandeur of a gracious splendid Europe of wealth and Old World sensibilities this glorious complex novel has become a touchstone for a great writer&#146;s entire literary achievement. From the opening pages when the high-spirited American girl Isabel Archer arrives at the English manor Gardencourt James&#146;s luminous superbly crafted prose creates an atmosphere of intensity expectation and incomparable beauty. <br><br>Isabel who has been taken abroad by an eccentric aunt to fulfill her potential attracts the passions of a British aristocrat and a brash American as well as the secret adoration of her invalid cousin Ralph Touchett. But her vulnerability and innocence lead her not to love but to a fatal entrapment in intrigue deception and betrayal. This brilliant interior drama of the forming of a woman&#146;s consciousness makes <b>The Portrait of a Lady</b> a masterpiece of James&#146;s middle years.