This novel follows Isabel Archer, a spirited young American woman who arrives in Europe full of curiosity and a fierce wish to be free. Taken up by her aunt and her ailing cousin, she attracts several suitors and refuses some good offers, determined to shape her own life. Then an unexpected inheritance and a fateful choice test her ideals against the people around her, especially the charming and cultivated circle of Americans living abroad. Moving from England to Italy, the book is a subtle study of independence, money, marriage and self-knowledge. It is widely seen as James's early masterpiece.
Quotes
Under certain circumstances there are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.
I don't want to begin life by marrying. There are other things a woman can do.
There's no more usual basis of union than a mutual misunderstanding.
Besides, I try to judge things for myself; to judge wrong, I think, is more honourable than not to judge at all.