Lady Barbarina, the Siege of London, an International Episode, and Other Tales

Henry James turns his gimlet eye on the collision of American and British sensibilities in this sharp collection of tales. At its center lies "Lady Barbarina," a delicious comedy of manners in which the elderly American couple the Freers watch from Hyde Park as their son Jackson pursues the daughter of an English marquis. What seems a simple romance becomes a meditation on national character, money versus breeding, and the anxious theatre of social aspiration. The other stories further explore James's great theme: what happens when fresh-faced Americans encounter the ancient certainties of European society. With his trademark irony and psychological precision, James dissects the assumptions both sides bring to the table. The result is endlessly entertaining and strangely relevant to our own age of cultural cross-dressing.