This terse and startling novel, written just before The Spoils of Poynton and What Maisie Knew, is the story of a struggle for possession—and of its devastating consequences. Three women seek to secure the affections of one man, while he, in turn, tries to satisfy them all. But in the middle of this contest of wills stands his unwitting and vulnerable young daughter. The savage conclusion of The Other House makes it one of the most disturbing and memorable of Henry James’s depictions of the uncontrollable passions that lie beneath the polished veneer of civilized life.
Oh blest Other House, which gives me thus at every step a precedent, a divine little light to walk by… —Henry James by Henry James, introduction by Louis Begley
