Lambert Strether has arrived in Paris from Woollett, Massachusetts, at the behest of Mrs. Newsome. She is both his fiance and his employer. Strether is an ambassador for America in the sense that Mrs. Newsome wants him to convince her son Chad to return home. She believes that life in Paris, particularly his French mistress, is corrupting him. Lambert, at first at odds with the Paris lifestyle eventually comes to feel that it is right for Chad as he is happier and more civilized than he had been at home.

The Reverberator was published in 1888 and was somewhat of a departure for Henry James as it is both lighter and easier to read than some of his other works. It was a short comedic novel, a satire on the manners and ways of Americans as innocents abroad and not the least, the means the media uses to sell newspapers (James based it on a case of irresponsible reporting in Florence). It first appeared in print in Macmillan's Magazine. It came out in book form later the same year in both London and New York. The title name refers to a gossipy newspaper that employs one George Flack, its ambitious reporter in Paris. He wants to see The Reverberator become a large international publication. One of Georgeís friends is pretty Francie Dosson, whom he has designs on himself. Francie, however, soon becomes engaged to Gaston Probert, an American by birth.

In 1880 Washington Square was published simultaneously in serialized form in both the United States and England. Very quickly it appeared in book form before the end of the year. It is one of James' shorter novels. By the time it was published Henry James was already at work on The Portrait of a Lady and showed no great enthusiasm for Washington Square. He excluded the latter work from his 1908 New York Edition of collected works. The story is told by an omniscient narrator. The story is well structured and relatively straight forward in its style. It is a tale of a young woman restricted by her class and times, who is dominated by her father.

The novel The Awkward Age was published in 1899. The story, set in contemporary time, revolves around Nanda Brookenham, the daughter of Fernanda. Fernanda, who goes by the name of Mrs. Brook, keeps a fashionable London salon. She has ambitions for her daughter to marry well, and has delayed her daughters debut into society for as long as possible. The title of the novel, The Awkward Age, is open to speculative interpretation as to whose awkward age James is referring to.

The heroine of The Wings of a Dove is Milly, an extremely rich American girl, who has been left with no living relatives. She spends much of her time with friend and fellow traveler Susan Shepherd Stringham and together they become part of the social circle of Maud Lowder, a friend of Susan's who lives in London. Milly and Susan are not introduced to the readers until the third chapter. The first two chapters are taken up with Kate Croy, who is Mrs. Lowder's niece, and Merton Densher, a journalist whom Kate is in love with.

The Bostonians was first published in serialized form in The Century Magazine in 1885 and 1886. It was published in book form in London in 1886. A change from Henry James look at Europeans, the novel is a study of the American scene. James had high hopes for its success and was very disappointed with its slow sales. Critics feel it lakes a sympathetic character and that the descriptions of New England life lack spark. Chapters with no dialogue at all test the most diligent of Henry James aficionados. The Bostonians is different from most of James books due to its strong political, rather than social, theme.

The Sacred Fount came immediately before what is considered the period of Henry James' greatest achievement as a writer. In spite of this, The Sacred Fount is one of James' least admired works. Critics at the time lambasted it and that early criticism has not helped its reputation in the over a hundred and ten years since its publication. The novel was published in 1901, by Scribner's in New York and by Methuen in London. It is the only one of James' novels to be narrated in the first person. The narrator is never named.

The Golden Bowl was published in novel form in 1904. It was structured in five parts. The novel was included in the New York Edition collection of Henry James' works. James considered the novel to be one of his best works. However, the novel would prove to be the least popular of his three major late novels, although some literary critics do not believe the novel received its due. In The Golden Bowl, Maggie Verver and her widowed father are Americans living in England. At the beginning of the story, Maggie is marries Italian nobleman, Prince Amerigo. Maggie and Amerigo continue to live with Mr. Verver but as time passes her father considers that he himself should marry again.

The Tragic Muse ran serially in The Atlantic for seventeen months, from January 1889 until May of 1890. It was one of James' long works, being well over two hundred thousand words. Two stories are interwoven in the plot. The first is of Nick Dormer, who is an attractive and talented young man who wants to be an artist. His family wants him to follow in the family footsteps of politics, securing a seat in Parliament. Nick's late father had made many connections that would help him in a political career. His mother supports this ambition as the family is only of modest fortune and she feels a successful political career would help Nick's two sisters find suitable husbands.

Madame de Mauves is a novella written by Henry James in his early period. He himself did not hold the novel in high regard in his later years. It was written when James was still in his twenties and published in the Galaxy periodical in the months of February and March of 1874. In Madame de Mauves James uses for the first time his theme of international relationships. Euphemia Cleve is a young American woman who is beautiful, good, and virtuous. She is married to a French Baron, Richard de Mauves, who is anything but good and virtuous. The story is mainly told through the eyes of a third person, a wealthy American named Longmore. Longmore meets Euphemia through a mutual acquaintance, Mrs. Draper. Mrs. Draper entrusts Longmore with the task of bringing some happiness to Euphemia as she writes to him, Prove to Madame de Mauves that an American friend may mingle admiration and respect better than a French husband.