What Maisie Knew, Henry James
What Maisie Knew, Henry James
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What Maisie Knew

Author: Henry James

Narrator: Lorna Raver

Unabridged: 11 hr 36 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/11/2012

Categories: Fiction, Classic


Synopsis

In this classic tale of the death of childhood, there is a savage comedy that owes much to Dickens. But for his portrayal of the childs capacity for intelligent wonder, James summons all the subtlety he devotes elsewhere to his most celebrated adult protagonists. In the aftermath of an acrimonious divorce, young Maisie Farange finds herself shuttled back and forth between her father and mother and their new spouses, all of whom are monstrously selfinvolved. Neglected and exploited by everyone around her, Maisie herself becomes a pretext for sexual intrigue when her stepparents become attracted to each other. As Maisie opens her young eyes on this distinctly modern world, the death of her childhood provides Henry James with a vehicle for scathing social satire.

About Henry James

American-born writer Henry James (1843–1916) authored 20 novels, 112 stories, 12 plays, and a number of literary criticisms.

James was born in New York City into a wealthy family. In his youth, James traveled back and forth between Europe and America. He studied with tutors in Geneva, London, Paris, Bologna, and Bonn. At the age of nineteen, he briefly attended Harvard Law School, but he was more interested in literature than law. James published his first short story, "A Tragedy of Errors," two years later and then devoted himself entirely to literature. In the late 1860s and early 1870s, he was a contributor to the Nation and Atlantic Monthly. His first novel, Watch and Ward, first appeared serially in the Atlantic.

After living in Paris, where he was a contributor to the New York Tribune, James moved to England. During his first years in Europe, James wrote novels that portrayed Americans living abroad. Between 1906 and 1910, he revised many of his tales and novels for the so-called New York edition of his complete works. Between 1913 and 1917, his three-volume autobiography-A Small Boy and Others, Notes of a Son and Brother, and The Middle Years (released posthumously)-was published. His last two novels, The Ivory Tower and The Sense of the Past, were left unfinished at his death.

Among James's masterpieces are Daisy Miller, The Portrait of a Lady, The Bostonians, and The Wings of the Dove. In addition, James considered his 1903 work The Ambassadors his most "perfect" work of art.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Lucy on January 07, 2015

I enjoyed the first half of this book. The language is complex but in a way that I found quite interesting and comprehensible. I like the character of Maisie, obviously she is very sympathetic, though it's hard to understand how she became so intelligent and loving with such selfish adults as role m......more

Goodreads review by Emi on June 15, 2020

That four parents and two houses weren't enough to shelter little Maisie's innocence is heartbreaking. Fascinating look at tabloid-grade divorce and its effect on an 11-yr old child at the turn of the century in 1907 London. So unfair that both parents were equally horrendous but its the mom that ge......more

Goodreads review by Artie on October 29, 2020

I gave up at Chapter 23. I really wanted to get to grips with Henry James, having failed with two of is other works in the past: but his style really does not work for me. In the first chapter, I felt sympathy for Maisie: but this didn't last - she just doesn't feel like a real child. Also, even all......more

Goodreads review by Sally on July 29, 2011

James's prose is very heavy handed but really quite frank and amusing. This was an excellent book. It made me cringe, but he really managed to capture what some parents put children through during and after a divorce. Quite shocking but very real.......more

Goodreads review by Jelina on March 20, 2020

I appreciated the full circle of Maise's story starting with the custody case of her parents and ending with a lively custody debate with her step parents. The step parents stepping in and loving Maise as their own was well done though their romance was rather surprising and ackward. Still the stori......more