Home › Classics › The Portrait of a Lady
A young American woman inherits money and makes a fateful choice in Europe
1881Slow paceMelancholic
What it is about
Isabel Archer is a young, independent American who moves to Europe and inherits a fortune. She refuses several good proposals and then marries a man who is not what he seems. The novel is a masterpiece of psychological realism.
Who will enjoy it
Readers who want a major nineteenth-century novel.
What you will get
Henry James’s best-known novel.
The Portrait of a Lady Facts: Pages, Genre and Setting
Genre
Classics · Marriage · Independence · Europe
Length
656 pages · ≈ 19 h
More about this book
Characters
Isabel Archer, Gilbert Osmond and Madame Merle.
Setting
England, Florence and Rome.
What makes it different
A long novel about a woman choosing her fate.
Feel
Elegant, subtle and sad.
Madame Bovary
A Doll's House
Ethan Frome
The Awakening
Anna Karenina
Things Fall Apart
Uncle Tom's Cabin