The Master (English)

Colm Tóibín's novel follows the life of Henry James during the last five years of the 19th century. Tóibín tells the story of the great novelist obliquely by concentrating on events, both big and small, that had a large impact, such as the devastating failure of his play GUY DOMVILLE, his guilt over the suicide of a woman who loved him (and whom he rejected), and his comic but poignant problems with servants. Throughout, Tóibín looks at James in relation to his work, finding connections between life and fiction and pondering their significance, in an attempt to decode the life of a man who was both very public--writing streams of letters and memoirs about his own life--and intensely private. Named by the New York Times as one of the 10 best books of 2004. minimize