The Wings of the Dove (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)

One of three masterpieces from Henry James’s final, “major” phase, The Wings of the Dove dramatizes the conflict between nineteenth-century values and twentieth-century passions. Born to wealth and privilege, Kate Croy’s mother threw it all away to marry a penniless opium addict. After her mother’s death, Kate is offered an opportunity to return to the opulent lifestyle her mother gave up—on one condition. Kate must renounce the man she loves: the witty, good-looking, but poor, Merton Densher. Reluctantly agreeing, Kate finds herself becoming friends with “the world’s richest orphan,” Millie Theale. When Kate learns that Millie is dying, she devises a plan of dizzying possibility for herself and Merton that should solve all their problems, but instead leads them down a path strewn with tragic, unexpected consequences.

First published in 1902, this rich and intriguing novel has lost none of its fascination and relevance a century later.

Bruce L. R. Smith is a Fellow of the Heyman Center for the Humanities of Columbia University. He has served as Professor of Public Law and Government at Columbia, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and as an official in the U. S. State Department. He is the author or editor of sixteen scholarly books, and lectures widely on public affairs and literary topics.