The Daily Henry James

Originally published as: The Henry James Yearbook. Boston: Gorham Press, 1911, selected and arranged by Evelyn Garnaut Smalley, with an introduction by Henry James and William Dean Howells.

Publisher description

Reproduction of the original: An International Episode by Henry James

Prologue -- Becoming Henry James -- Global apprenticeship -- The James brand -- Professional author -- Masterpieces -- Epilogue.

A young woman starts working as a governess at the isolated estate of Bly outside London. There, she is greeted by the two orphaned children she is to take care of, an ambiguous housekeeper, and an icy, supernatural atmosphere. Soon, a couple of peculiar figures begin to appear unannounced, and a creeping horror tightens its grip on both the governess and the reader. The Turn of the Screw is one of the most classic ghost stories of all time, written by the master of the psychological novel, Henry James. Perhaps more than anyone from his time, James came to inspire our modern horror mythologies, from the image of innocence as evil to schizoid labyrinths a la Roman Polanski. HENRY JAMES [1843-1916] was born in New York but emigrated early to Europe. He is one of the most important names in Anglo-Saxon literature, renowned as a great stylist and as a link between the Victorian era and modernism. Among his most famous novels are The American [1877], Portrait of a Lady [1881], and especially The Turn of the Screw [1898].

"A bibliographical note: Blackmur's essays on Henry James": p. 243-244. Includes index.