Washington Square
The plain, quiet Catherine Sloper, heiress to a fortune, is courted by a charming but penniless suitor while her brilliant, coldly ironic father is certain the young man is only after her money—leaving Catherine caught between love and a father’s contempt. James’s spare, elegant novel is a quietly devastating study of a woman’s dignity, disillusionment, and hard-won strength. Set in old New York, Washington Square achieves a clarity and emotional force rare among his works. Compact and powerful, it is one of his most accessible and moving books, a perfect miniature of thwarted love and the slow, painful blossoming of self-respect in a heroine the world underestimates.
About the Author
Henry James was an American-British writer and a master of the psychological novel. Works such as The Portrait of a Lady, The Turn of the Screw, and The Ambassadors explore consciousness, society, and the clash between American and European life.
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