The Bostonians (Annotated)

Henry James's The Bostonians (1886) is a searching social novel of post–Civil War America, centered on the contest for the allegiance of Verena Tarrant, a gifted young speaker drawn into Boston's reformist, feminist circles. With James's characteristic psychological subtlety, ironic narration, and intricate dialogue, the novel examines idealism, manipulation, gender politics, and the uneasy theatr...