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Audiobook editionPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 310 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 310 pagesAbout this book
What can you trust when a charming story matters more than the truth?
In Henry James's A London Life, and Other Tales, respectable life hides uneasy feelings. Laura Wing, a young American in England, watches the troubled marriage of her sister Selina and Lionel Berrington. Staying in their household, she must decide how far she can trust those around her. The pressure lies in words, silences, and what she can only guess.
The collection brings together A London Life, The Patagonia, The Liar, and Mrs. Temperly. An Atlantic crossing makes a ship a closed social world. Portrait painter Oliver Lyon meets Colonel Capadose and Everina, a woman from his past. A mother moves through European society. Across drawing rooms, country houses, and ocean liners, James watches the strain of keeping up appearances.
What you’ll discover
- A household under strain Watch Laura weigh trust and doubt as her sister's marriage troubles the household.
- Talk at sea Enter the closed world of The Patagonia, where conversation becomes the drama.
- Charm meets a sharp eye Follow Oliver Lyon as he sees more of Colonel Capadose than he would like.
- Ambition behind appearances Meet the mother in Mrs. Temperly as she moves through Europe's social world.
- The weight of silence Discover how withheld words and close attention to feeling give these restrained tales their force.
Who will love it
Readers who love sharp dinner table talk and keen social observation will enjoy these tales of Americans and English people. They also suit readers curious about how family, money, and manners shape private choices.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Dependence makes loyalty costly
- An oath deepens Laura's doubt
- A private worry becomes public
- The painter wants to expose
- Kindness can conceal a plan
- Good manners can carry cruelty
- Marriage narrows and shelters choice
- Watching does not guarantee understanding
- Someone pays for another's comfort
Who’s who
- Laura WingA penniless young American living in her sister's English house, she loves Selina but dreads the scandal that is coming.
- Selina BerringtonLaura's beautiful, restless older sister, who wants pleasure and freedom and lies easily to keep both.
- Grace MavisA proud, silent Boston girl sailing to Liverpool to marry a man she has been engaged to for years.
- Jasper NettlepointA handsome, selfish young traveler who sails on a whim and spends the voyage at Grace's side.
- Oliver LyonA successful portrait painter who studies faces for a living and cannot stop studying the woman he once loved.
- Colonel CapadoseA charming, brave soldier with a cheerful gift for tall tales and pointless lies.
- Raymond BestwickA young American painter who loves Dora Temperly and follows her family across the sea to Paris.
- Dora TemperlyA quiet, plain, clever young woman who adores her mother and keeps her own counsel.
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A London Life, and Other Tales
by Henry James · 1889
A girl on a country estate watches her sister drift toward a scandal that could ruin them both.
Medium level5–10 hours to read20 languages
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“a ship is a great school of gossip”
In short
What would you do if the sister who took you in were slowly ruining the family name, and you ate at her table every day? That is the trap that closes around Laura Wing, a penniless American girl in an English country house.
A London Life, and Other Tales at a glance
- Reading time
- About 6 h 25 min5 h 5 min fast, 7 h 40 min slow
- Length
- 91,900 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1889by Henry James
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Laura Wing walks into a house of secrets
Laura Wing walks through the park to Plash, the dower house where old Mrs. Berrington lives. She has been in England just over a year, and she has learned things she never wished to know.
Laura's parents are dead, and her father lost his money. She lives in her brother-in-law's house and pays only for her clothes. Her sister Selina is beautiful, restless, and hardly ever at home. The household runs on telegrams, horses, and visitors, and nobody says what the messages mean.
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A girl on a country estate watches her sister drift toward a scandal that could ruin them both.
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Details
- First published
- 1889
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 7 h 25 min
- Level
- Medium level
- Paperback
- 310 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Hardcover
- 310 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Large print paperback
- 514 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Large print hardcover
- 514 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Delivery and returns
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For Christmas, order by Thu 12 Nov
Cite this edition
James, Henry. A London Life, and Other Tales. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-london-life-and-other-tales.
James, H. (2026). A London life, and other tales. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-london-life-and-other-tales (Original work published 1889)
James, Henry. A London Life, and Other Tales. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-london-life-and-other-tales.
@book{james2026london,
author = {James, Henry},
title = {A London Life, and Other Tales},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-london-life-and-other-tales},
note = {First published 1889}
}
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What is A London Life, and Other Tales about?
It gathers four stories by Henry James: A London Life, The Patagonia, The Liar, and Mrs. Temperly. Each shows respectable people hiding something, from a failing marriage to a habit of lying, among Americans and English people.
Who is Laura Wing in A London Life?
Laura is a young American who lives with her married sister Selina at an English country house. She has very little money of her own, and she is torn between loving her sister and fearing the scandal that is coming.
What is The Patagonia in Henry James's story?
It is the name of a slow ocean liner carrying passengers from Boston to Liverpool. The story follows a girl traveling to be married and the gossip she attracts, told by a friendly observer who keeps watching.
The author
Henry James
1843–1916 · American British novelist
Henry James was born in New York City in 1843. He settled in England in 1876 and became a British citizen in 1915. He wrote novels, stories, plays, and travel books. His works include Daisy Miller (1878), The Turn of the Screw (1898), and The Ambassadors (1903). He died in London in 1916.
“a ship is a great school of gossip”
More by Henry James
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