Showing results for "The Portrait of a Lady" in Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

In the early years of the 20th century, influential art critic William Nasmyth travels to a remote island off the coast of Brittany to sit for a portrait painted by his old friend, the gifted but tormented artist Henry MacAlpine. Over the course of the sitting, MacAlpine recalls their years of friendship, the double-edged gift of the critic's patronage, the power he wielded over aspiring artists, and his apparent callousness in anointing the careers of some and devastating the lives of others.

The Portrait of a Lady was first published in 1881 and is arguably Henry James' finest novel. It is set in England and Europe, but the main characters tend to be American, including one of fiction's great heroines, Isabel Archer, around whom the plot revolves. A young innocent abroad, Isabel visits her American relatives in England, the Touchetts, and soon befriends her cousin, Ralph.