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Henry James was born in New York in 1843 into a wealthy, eccentric, brilliant family. In his youth he travelled between Europe and America, studying in London, Paris, Geneva, Newport, Rhode Island and Bonn. He half-heartedly studied law at Harvard, which only confirmed his sense of his vocation- to read and write fiction. His first novel, Watch and Ward, appeared in 1871 in The Atlantic Monthly. In 1875 James moved to Europe- Paris, then London, and later Rye in Sussex. Apart from his twenty completed novels and 112 short stories, James wrote plays, criticism, travel books, autobiographies - and a huge number of letters. He became a British citizen in 1915 and died in 1916.
[An] ingenious and entertaining collection... the stories could not be more varied in tone and approach, from Colm Tóibín’s beautifully measured “Silence”...to Amit Chaudhuri’s bouncily rhythmical “Wensleydale”...the individuality of the entries does not preclude entertainment – there is much playfulness and not a little comedy here * Times Literary Supplement * Wonderful short stories...It is fascinating to see how familiar writers such as Colm Tóibín, Rose Tremain, Tessa Hadley and Lynn Truss match their own style to quintessentially Jamesian themes: a father who isn’t who he appeared to be; a ghostly reminder of past loss; an affair that never quite caught fire. Each story is different, but the hand of the master is clearly detectable throughout, a gentle guide that shapes the telling. * Irish Times * In this volume, the appreciation of his unwritten tales by eleven fine contemporary authors pays handsome dividends * Sydney Review of Books * The short story should be a gem of bright, quick, vivid form * Notebooks * Henry James is as solitary in the history of the novel as Shakespeare is in the history of poetry -- Graham Greene In the hands of these authors, James's plots are, if not quite infected with James's style, haunting. James haunts us, but these authors haunt him... It's nice to feel the tick of his pen, drawn on in fresh print * Henry James Review *
