The Henry James BBC Radio Drama Colle..., Henry James
The Henry James BBC Radio Drama Colle..., Henry James
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The Henry James BBC Radio Drama Collection
10 full-cast dramatisations

Author: Henry James

Narrator: Full Cast, Henry Goodman, Jodie Comer, John Lynch, Julie Hesmondhalgh, Lee Ingleby, Siân Phillips, Toby Jones

Unabridged: 20 hr 24 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/21/2019

Categories: Fiction, Classic


Synopsis

The definitive collection of full-cast BBC radio dramatisations of Henry James’ classic novels – plus a bonus documentary about his life and work

One of the greatest and most influential American novelists, Henry James is loved for his compelling storytelling, vividly realised characters and perceptive exploration of the shifting relationships between Europeans and Americans. But he also possessed extraordinary insights into the secrets of the human heart, as shown in the ten dramas in this collection.

Roderick Hudson explores how love and obsession intermingle as old and new worlds collide; The American mixes humour and heartache in a tale of a self-made millionaire and an aristocratic young Frenchwoman; and desire and propriety clash in Daisy Miller when Frederick Winterbourne meets the beautiful, free-spirited Daisy. Pursued by two suitors, Isabel Archer longs for freedom in The Portrait of a Lady; while a literary editor insinuates himself into the lives of an elderly spinster and her niece in The Aspern Papers.

What Maisie Knew is James’ classic tale of divorce seen through a child’s eyes; while Gothic ghost story The Turn of the Screw tells the terrifying tale of a governess who tries to protect two young children from the forces of evil. The Wings of the Dove is a heartbreaking story of a doomed love triangle; dark comedy The Ambassadors features yearning and betrayal in aristocratic Paris; and The Golden Bowl explores two marriages and the secret that threatens to tear them apart.

The casts of these sweeping radio dramas include Kate Hudson, Kate Phillips, Emma Cunniffe, Jodie Comer, Henry Goodman and Toby Jones, with John Lynch as Henry James. Also featured is a bonus programme, The Master, in which Sarah Churchwell discusses James’ life and novels with author Colm Tóibin and biographer Hermione Lee.

About Henry James

American-born writer Henry James (1843–1916) authored 20 novels, 112 stories, 12 plays, and a number of literary criticisms.

James was born in New York City into a wealthy family. In his youth, James traveled back and forth between Europe and America. He studied with tutors in Geneva, London, Paris, Bologna, and Bonn. At the age of nineteen, he briefly attended Harvard Law School, but he was more interested in literature than law. James published his first short story, "A Tragedy of Errors," two years later and then devoted himself entirely to literature. In the late 1860s and early 1870s, he was a contributor to the Nation and Atlantic Monthly. His first novel, Watch and Ward, first appeared serially in the Atlantic.

After living in Paris, where he was a contributor to the New York Tribune, James moved to England. During his first years in Europe, James wrote novels that portrayed Americans living abroad. Between 1906 and 1910, he revised many of his tales and novels for the so-called New York edition of his complete works. Between 1913 and 1917, his three-volume autobiography-A Small Boy and Others, Notes of a Son and Brother, and The Middle Years (released posthumously)-was published. His last two novels, The Ivory Tower and The Sense of the Past, were left unfinished at his death.

Among James's masterpieces are Daisy Miller, The Portrait of a Lady, The Bostonians, and The Wings of the Dove. In addition, James considered his 1903 work The Ambassadors his most "perfect" work of art.


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