Books Read: 13

I have finally finished The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James. It is about this American woman, Isabel Archer, who comes to England with her Aunt to experience freedom and independence. She is pursued by an American, who has been interested in marrying her before the book begins. As well as an English Lord she meets while in England. She becomes close with her cousin, who is also in love with her, but refuses to try and marry her due to their family relations. Isabel meets a friend of her Aunt, Madame Merle, who arrives at their home while her uncle is dying. They become close friends and after her uncle dies, she receives a large inheritance and begins to travel to Italy. While there, Madame Merle introduces her to Gilbert Osmond, a poor but a gentleman with a young daughter. During their time together Madame Merle convinces him to pursue her and eventually convinces Isabel to marry him. The rest of the book is about their marriage and the struggle between individual beliefs and the old society. I won't say anymore and give the ending away!

For classic literature, this is a fantastic book. There are lots of twists in the plot and I feel better written than many books I've read from this time period. It is very different from other books with strong heroines that seem to have a destiny that is a struggle and full of hardship. That is probably why I enjoyed it slightly more than other books of this period with similar themes. They are still good, but this one is slightly more interesting because you don't know exactly how it will end. With other books you do know how it will end. I am planning on reading more books by this author because I think he has a good writing style and has interesting way of presenting the same topics in a different way.