RollnSmoke Reviews: THE BOSTONIANS

THE BOSTONIANS by Henry James (MacMillan, 1886).

Written during James’ “Middle Period,” this story centers on an unlikely love triangle between Olive Chancellor – a spinster Bostonian “nihilist radical” -- who befriends young and charming Verena Tarrant who sports a “mystic faculty” to speak on behalf of the cause of Women’s Emancipation. Along comes Basil Ransom, a Post-Civil War Mississippian without means, who moves to NYC and interferes with Olive’s plan to keep Verena “in the single sisterhood; to keep her, above all, for herself.” Told from a vague first person omniscient narrator, the story is dated, the language often drawn-out (“farinaceous,” “lucubrations,” “pusillanimous”) and the drama somewhat redundant. Ultimately, given Verena’s independent nature and Basil’s chauvinism, the pairing is improbable (6.5/10).