Review of _The Other House_: Not one of James's better efforts (and it is not a mystery to me that it has not been reprinted in many decades, perhaps since its first appearance). This is an adaptation of a play that James could not get staged; from the evidence it was probably a pretty mediocre bit of drama as well, with the "sensationalist" bit of the plot arriving far too late (and to little purpose, really) to make the book interesting. Not really worth the trouble of reading unless you're curious.

For the other three novels in this volume, please see my individual reviews of the works.

The 3 stars are for "What Maisie Knew." Typical Jamesian writing, with respect to which I am of two minds. Sometimes, it's entrancing. At other times, it is torture. James's use of language in this book was more accessible than, say, "The Golden Bowl," but that's not saying much. The plot and scene construction were above average for a James novel. As for the characters, I did "love" the bad parents---true, timeless role models :-) The whole book reminds me of a saying from the 1960s, as modified for the occasion---never trust anyone over 3.

So many characters and twists and turns! Hard for me to follow but I'm glad I read these stories. He's a classic. I will attempt to read more of his books.

The first novel in this volume--"The Other House"--is downright weird and didn't quite work for me, but the other three are gems, each in its own way. James is not everybody's cup of tea, but if you've enjoyed any of his earlier novels, these three kick it up a notch and set the stage for his final works, which are some of the greatest in American literature.