It was more than forty years ago that Leon Edel began to publish what at the time - and for decades later - was accepted as the definitive portrait of Henry James. In the five-volume work, however, James emerged as a somewhat bloodless man of little passion and no courage. But now Sheldon Novick, with his Henry James: The Young Master, has succeeded in bringing James fully to life by showing us a man with boldness of spirit and a profound capacity for affection.

We share James's childhood in New York in the mid-nineteenth century, suffer with him through illnesses, sexual encounters, early loves; journey with him to London, Paris, and Rome as he tries to find both professional success and personal fulfillment. And as the world opens to him as an internationally famous writer, we share the experience of writing a series of celebrated novels, culminating with Washington Square (on which the play The Heiress is based) and the masterpiece The Portrait of a Lady.