Henry James and the Second Empire

Wrenn (comparative literature, London School of Economics) examines the influence of the mind-set of France's Second Empire, under Napoleon III, on Henry James. James began reading the conservative Revue des Deux Mondes while still living in America. The authors, Edmond About, Octave Feuillet and the Swiss Victor Cherbuliez were frequent contributors and, especially in his early novels, James drew on their themes. Wrenn follows the development of James' work into the early twentieth century, showing how the morals and attitudes of the continental aristocracy, as portrayed by these writers and others, affected James. The writing of Paul Bourget, friend of James for many years, is also explored. Although his influence on James' work was apparently slight, Bourget was one of the last of the French writers in the Second Empire tradition. Wrenn concludes by demonstrating how, in his final novels, James returned to the Deux Mondes authors for inspiration. Distributed in North America by The David Brown Book Co. Annotation 穢2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)