The Europeans

by Henry James Narrated by Eleanor Bron

Overview

Eugenia, an American expatriate brought up in Europe, arrives in rural New England with her charming brother Felix, hoping to find a wealthy second husband after the collapse of her marriage to a German prince.

Their exotic, sophisticated airs cause quite a stir with their affluent, God-fearing American cousins, the Wentworths-and provoke the disapproval of their uncle, suspicious of foreign influences. To Gertrude Wentworth, struggling against her somber puritan upbringing, the arrival of the handsome Felix is especially enchanting.

Editorial Reviews

Graham Greene

He is as solitary in the history of the novel as Shakespeare in the history of poetry.

AudioFile

Bron’s reading is alert with nuance. She alternates between energy and ennui as character or occasion dictates, voicing the characters lightly, in keeping with James’s strong narrative control. In so doing, she mirrors perfectly both James’s tense and ambiguous world as well as his masterful control of that world.”

F. R. Leavis

James’ irony is far from being unkind; he sees too much he admires in the [American] ethos he criticizes to condemn it…This small book, written so early in James’ career, is a masterpiece of major quality.”

Kliatt

[The] reading by Lloyd James…is excellent here. He softens his voice for the German characters and gives the pompous, self-centered Eugenia a deep, sonorous murmur.”

From the Publisher

'[One of] two handsome volumes in their Cambridge maroon cloth covers with gilt stamping on the binding and James’s familiar signature on the covers are crucial additions to the resources scholars will use for generations to study the greatest novelist of the modern period.' John Carlos Rowe, The Henry James Review

NOVEMBER 2018 - AudioFile

Narrator Adam Sims expertly guides the listener through the complex relationships Henry James sets up when European cousins Eugenia and Felix come to America to meet their relations. Sims’s soft cadence couples well with James’s prose, and his vocal characterizations distinguish the characters clearly. He captures the European brother and sister especially well. Felix’s delightful French accent and enthusiastic tone emphasize his apparent lightheartedness—he always sounds as if he is smiling. Eugenia’s slight accent and offhand way of speaking make her sound not only false but also somewhat sinister. Sims creates a contrast between the Europeans and the earnest American characters. He navigates prose and dialogue with apparent ease, and his narration makes for a well-paced experience of the novel. D.M.W. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169804287
Publisher:	Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date:	10/01/2010
Edition description:	Unabridged

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