The Aspern Papers

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Kessinger Publishing, Jun 1, 2004 - Fiction - 96 pages
All Groups / Melodrama Charaters: 2 male, 4 female Scenery: Interior From the story by Henry James In a once grand Venetian palazzo an old woman and her niece live in seclusion. An American publisher asks to leases some rooms, his purpose to unearth the mystery of a brilliant author who once loved the aunt. The old woman curtly rejects all inquiries. When she finds him going through the some papers he's discovered, she has a stroke and dies. The lonely niece pathetically proposes to him, but he rejects her when she says she's burned the papers. She locks herself up in the palazzo and then destroys the papers. "Bewitching, tantalizing, exciting.... A work of uncommon suspense and exceptional literary merit." - N.Y. Daily News.

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About the author (2004)

Henry James, American novelist and literary critic, was born in 1843 in New York City. Psychologist-philosopher William James was his brother. By the age of 18, he had lived in France, England, Switzerland, Germany, and New England. In 1876, he moved to London, having decided to live abroad permanently. James was a prolific writer; his writings include 22 novels, 113 tales, 15 plays, approximately 10 books of criticism, and 7 travel books. His best-known works include Daisy Miller, The Turn of the Screw, The Portrait of a Lady, The Ambassadors, and The American Scene. His works of fiction are elegant and articulate looks at Victorian society; while primarily set in genteel society, James subtlely explores class issues, sexual repression, and psychological distress. Henry James died in 1916 in London. The James Memorial Stone in Poet's Corner, Westminster Abbey, commemorates him.

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