The Aspern Papers by Henry James

This is a novella by Henry James, based loosely on letters kept by Claire Clairmont from the poet Percey Bysshe Shelley.

The setting of the story is Venice, and that city is brought to life by James, as he was also a travel writer. As with much of James’s work, the story involves Americans in Europe, the clash between the old and new worlds. The elderly former lover of the long deceased American poet Jeffery Aspern, lives in Venice with her middle-aged niece. An American scholar, who remains nameless, believing the former lover has unpublished letters from Aspern and which he wishes to publish, comes to Venice and manipulates his way into the household in order to gain the letters. He gets more than he expected.

Henry James was a master of the novella, and as this was published in 1888, prior to the late 1890’s when he started to dictate his stories to a secretary with a typewriter, his writing in this novella is very accessible.

The library has a good selection of classics, and this story published by Wordsworth Classics appears with another famous novella, The Turn of the Screw.

Reviewed by Stuart McMartin
SMSA Member