Isabel Archer rejects one man after another. With the inheritance from a wealthy relative, she can fulfill her dream of an independent life. She travels to Italy. In Florence, she meets the American expatriate and art collector Gilbert Osmond. He has charm and taste, but that's pretty much all she knows about him. Despite her friends' warnings, she says yes when he proposes. Unlike others, bound by conventions, Osmond gives the impression of being free. But what does Isabel really need his freedom for when she has her own?
Isabel Archer is one of literature's most talked-about female characters. The way Henry James portrays her, without analysis; solely through her expressions and experiences, makes The Portrait of a Lady [1881] one of the most innovative novels in literary history.

HENRY JAMES [1843 -1916] was born in New York but emigrated to Europe early in life. He is one of the most important figures in Anglo-Saxon turn-of-the-century literature, with novels such as The American [1877] and the horror novel The Turn of the Screw [1898].