Henry James

Henry James was born on April 15th, 1843 in New York City, New York. The son of a lecturer/philosopher and a woman from a wealthy family, Henry had a privileged childhood where he was well-schooled and intentionally exposed to many different scientific and philosophical teachings. His family spent much time traveling Europe while he studied with tutors. In 1861, James received an injury while fighting a fire that made him unfit for military service in the American Civil War.

In 1862, James enrolled at Harvard Law School but later dropped out to study literature. His first published work was a review of "Miss Maggie Mitchell in Fanchon the Cricket," a stage performance. This review was published in 1863. A year later his first short story, "A Tragedy of Error" was published. He began writing journalism pieces for The Nation and  Atlantic Monthly and later worked in as a correspondent for the New York Tribune.

James moved to London in 1869 and began publishing serial installments of stories that would later be collected in book form. The audience for these installments was largely middle-class women, and James struggled to create serious novels based off of what the publishers deemed appropriate for women at that time.

In 1875, he moved to Paris and spent the rest of his life living in Europe. It was also this year that James published his first full-length novel, 'Roderick Hudson.' The novel was not well received at the time but has become a classic in more modern times. In 1881, James created one of his best-known works, "The Portrait of a Lady." This successful novel was followed by a few less well-received ones and his surprising chart-topper, "The Turn of the Screw" a novella that was praised by critics for it's different interpretations.

During this time James also wrote many shorter narratives such as "Daisy Miller" (1878) that are still well known to this day. In the early 1900's, James published several less well-known novels and visited America to lecture on the French novelist and playwright, Honore de Balzac.

He also began working on his autobiographies. During the World War I he worked for the military although he did not go off to the front lines due to his age. In 1915, he became a British subject and was awarded the Order of Merit the following year.

Henry James died on February 28th, 1916 in Chelsea, London and was interred at Cambridge Cemetery in Massachusetts.