A Ring Of Conspirators

Born in New England, Henry James spent the last decades of his life in Old England, specifically in Rye and London, and finally became a British subject. Comfortably settled in Lamb House, enjoying its rural and seaside amenities, he mingled with fellow writers including Ford Madox Ford, H. G. Wells, Stephen Crane, and Joseph Conrad. By examining the relationships amongst this group, as expressed in their social behaviour and their writing, Seymour is able to articulate with some degree of clarity what mattered to Henry James. She also discusses the warm affection between Henry and his psychologist brother, William. The interest of this book occurs in the details of character and setting. Literary quarrels and personal rivalries abound. The lives of the male writers - with the exception of James himself - were brightened by a range of Edwardian ladies, from the 'Angel in the House', as Virginia Woolf scornfully described the ideal stay-at-home wife, to the neurotic 'lady novelist' (George Eliot's term) exemplified by Violet Hunt. Because the book mainly confines itself to his life at Rye, the issue of James's relationship with women when younger is not addressed in any detail. For the last 20 years of his life, it is clear that he had homo-erotic, though not homosexual, attachments. Originally published in 1988, this paperback hasn't been re-written. Its approach to biography is therefore one which cheerfully seeks to recreate a historical reality, rather than one which questions the possibility of ever achieving it. For Seymour, James is a gentleman, and a writer of intelligence and subtlety. The comparison with his contemporaries supports this view. (Kirkus UK)