Henry James was a bottom.

With this apercu in mind, you needn't get fussed up as to why Isabel Archer returns to Osmond. ~~ With the exception of Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick's illuminating criticism ("Epistemology of the Closet," 1990) there hasn't been any fresh Jamesian crit in over 50 years.

As the French would say, he's "de trop."

The Portrait of a Lady surprised me. I haven't enjoyed James' books in the past but I absolutely loved this. Complex characters, witty dialogue and dense but lyrical writing style. It definitely has some dense parts that I struggled with but I was amazed by the dialogue and the character development. One star is knocked off because I wasn't as emotionally invested with the ending as I hoped I would be.