The Novels and Tales of Henry James, New York Edition, Volume IX: The Awkward Age

With this novel, Henry James introduced the readers of the New York Edition to the complexities of his later manner.  He would not have selected this book as the introduction to the labyrinth he contrived in his last years had he not been certain that he had given his final judgment on the high society of London in his time.

The world of The Awkward Age is a world in which calculation has replaced passion.  "Aren't we a lovely family?" cries out young Nanda Brookenham, the heroine of this admittedly sordid tale.  "We seem to be all living more or less on other people, all immensely 'beholden.'"  Old Mr. Longdon, who had been in love with Nanda's grandmother, echoes her exasperation.  "The more one thinks of it," he says, "the more one seems to see that society...can never have been anything but increasingly vulgar." 

The Awkward Age is the chronicle of Nanda Brookenham's attempt to escape from this atmosphere.  Although Mr. Longdon is willing to finance a likely marriage for her, she will have none of such an arrangement.  Her refusal is that of James himself. 

The novel was first published in 1899 when the author was 56.

The New York Edition of the fiction of Henry James is the authoritative edition of is fiction, with prefaces composed by the author after he had, in many instances, revised his novels and tales.  It has been long unavailable.  Scribners plans to reissue the set at the rate of two volumes a season.  It was originally published in 24 volumes 1907-09.  Two posthumous volumes were brought out in 1918, uniform with the original set.

James himself was pleased by the New York Edition.  "I am delighted with the appearance, beauty, and dignity of the book," he wrote Scribners in 1907 on receiving his copy of Roderick Hudson, "am in short ridiculously proud of it.  The whole is a perfect felicity, so let us go on rejoicing." 

No effort has been spared to make the new New York Edition even more handsome than the original.

About the Author

Henry James, son of theologian Henry James Sr., brother of the philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James, was an American-born author, one of the founders and leaders of a school of realism in fiction. He spent much of his life in England and became a British subject shortly before his death. He is primarily known for a series of major novels in which he portrayed the encounter of America with Europe. His plots centered on personal relationships, the proper exercise of power in such relationships, and other moral questions. His method of writing from the point of view of a character within a tale allowed him to explore the phenomena of consciousness and perception, and his style in later works has been compared to impressionist painting.

James insisted that writers in Great Britain and America should be allowed the greatest freedom possible in presenting their view of the world, as French authors were. His imaginative use of point of view, interior monologue and unreliable narrators in his own novels and tales brought a new depth and interest to realistic fiction, and foreshadowed the modernist work of the twentieth century. An extraordinarily productive writer, in addition to his voluminous works of fiction he published articles and books of travel writing, biography, autobiography, and criticism,and wrote plays, some of which were performed during his lifetime with moderate success. His theatrical work is thought to have profoundly influenced his later novels and tales.