What Maisie Knew: And the Pupil

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Vintage, 2007 - Fiction - 343 pages
Caught in the crossfire of her parents' acrimonious divorce, witness to their battles, intrigues and affairs, neglected and exploited, Maisie is a child who knows too much about the world of adults. Despite it all, Maisie maintains her goodness and dignity in the face of the bitterness and profligacy that surround her. Also included is The Pupil, a short story centering on the experiences of a child in a dishonorable and uncaring family.

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About the author (2007)

HENRY JAMES was born on April 15, 1843 in Washington Place, New York to a wealthy and intellectual family and as a youth travelled between Europe and America and studied with tutors in Geneva, London, Paris, Bologna and Bonn. He briefly and unsuccessfully studied law at Harvard but decided he preferred reading and writing fiction to studying law. His first novel, "Watch and Ward," was published in 1871 after first appearing serially in "Atlantic Monthly." After a brief period in Paris, James moved first to London and then later to Rye in Sussex. He became a British citizen in 1915 to declare his loyalty to his adopted country as well as to protest against America's refusal to enter the war on behalf of Britain. Henry James was a prolific writer and critic and from around 1875 until his death he maintained a strenuous schedule of publications in a variety of genres: novels, short story collections, literary criticism, travel writing, biography and autobiography. He died in 1916.

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