Description

Book Synopsis
‘There was nothing weak about Miss Olive, she was a fighting woman, and she would fight him to the death’

 

Basil Ransom, an attractive young Mississippi lawyer, is on a visit to his cousin Olive, a wealthy feminist, in Boston when he accompanies her to a meeting on the subject of women’s emancipation. One of the speakers is Verena Tarrant, and although he disapproves of all she claims to stand for, Basil is immediately captivated by her and sets about ‘reforming’ her with his traditional views. But Olive has already made Verena her protégée, and soon a battle is under way for exclusive possession of her heart and mind. The Bostonians is one of James’s most provocative and astute portrayals of a world caught between old values and the lure of progress.

Richard Lansdown’s introduction discusses The Bostonians as James’s most successful political work and his funniest novel. This edition

Trade Review
“As devastating in its wit as it is sharp in its social critique of sexual politics. No writer in America had dared the subject before. No one has done it so well since.” —The New Republic

The Bostonians A Novel Penguin Classics

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    A Paperback / softback by Henry James, Richard Lansdown, Richard Lansdown

    £11.69

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      Book details

      Publisher Penguin Random House Group
      Imprint Penguin Classics
      Published 14 August 2000
      ISBN-13 9780140437669
      978-0140437669
      ISBN-10 0140437665
      Also in:
      Fiction Books by Henry James

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      ‘There was nothing weak about Miss Olive, she was a fighting woman, and she would fight him to the death’

       

      Basil Ransom, an attractive young Mississippi lawyer, is on a visit to his cousin Olive, a wealthy feminist, in Boston when he accompanies her to a meeting on the subject of women’s emancipation. One of the speakers is Verena Tarrant, and although he disapproves of all she claims to stand for, Basil is immediately captivated by her and sets about ‘reforming’ her with his traditional views. But Olive has already made Verena her protégée, and soon a battle is under way for exclusive possession of her heart and mind. The Bostonians is one of James’s most provocative and astute portrayals of a world caught between old values and the lure of progress.

      Richard Lansdown’s introduction discusses The Bostonians as James’s most successful political work and his funniest novel. This edition

      Trade Review
      “As devastating in its wit as it is sharp in its social critique of sexual politics. No writer in America had dared the subject before. No one has done it so well since.” —The New Republic

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