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What Maisie Knew
- Author
- Henry James
- Narrator
- Lorna Raver
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Publish Date
- 11 January 2012
- Run Time
- 11 hours 36 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
- Genre
- Classic fiction
What to expect
In this classic tale of the death of childhood, there is a savage comedy that owes much to Dickens. But for his portrayal of the child’s capacity for intelligent wonder, James summons all the subtlety he devotes elsewhere to his most celebrated adult protagonists.
In the aftermath of an acrimonious divorce, young Maisie Farange finds herself shuttled back and forth between her father and mother and their new spouses, all of whom are monstrously self-involved. Neglected and exploited by everyone around her, Maisie herself becomes a pretext for sexual intrigue when her stepparents become attracted to each other. As Maisie opens her young eyes on this distinctly modern world, the death of her childhood provides Henry James with a vehicle for scathing social satire.
Critics Review
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“Reading Henry James is like putting a new faculty to the test. This is the true morality.”
Anita Brookner, Booker Prize–winning novelist
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“Maisie embodies everything that James excelled at in fiction.”
Paul Theroux
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“The novel’s perspective faithfully aligns itself to Maisie’s thoughts, showing, on the one hand, the ironic comedy of the interactions of the self-involved adults and, on the other, restless, hyperalert Maisie’s shrewd assessment of those interactions…James’ old-fashioned commitment to the pursuit of verisimilitude meets with his growing interest in the area of consciousness to create a unique character in Maisie.”
Wall Street Journal
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“A technical tour de force depicting a sentient adolescent girl against a context of self-righteous parental failure and sexual irregularity…Not to be missed.”
Kirkus Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Henry James
- Narrator
- Lorna Raver
- Duration
- 11 hours 36 minutes
- Release Date
- 11 January 2012
- ISBN
- 9781483053219
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Genre
- Classic fiction
Synopsis
In this classic tale of the death of childhood, there is a savage comedy that owes much to Dickens. But for his portrayal of the child’s capacity for intelligent wonder, James summons all the subtlety he devotes elsewhere to his most celebrated adult protagonists.In the aftermath of an acrimonious divorce, young Maisie Farange finds herself shuttled back and forth between her father and mother and their new spouses, all of whom are monstrously self-involved. Neglected and exploited by everyone around her, Maisie herself becomes a pretext for sexual intrigue when her stepparents become attracted to each other. As Maisie opens her young eyes on this distinctly modern world, the death of her childhood provides Henry James with a vehicle for scathing social satire.
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