Reading Groups

Henry James's The Portrait of a Lady with Sheridan Hay

4 Sessions Wednesdays, 6:00 pm EDT - 7:30 pm EDT September 11 to October 2, 2024

Online via Zoom

The ‘With Book’ option includes the title required for this group at a 10% discount from our Bookstore.

Meeting Dates:
9/11, 9/18, 9/25, 10/2
Held Online via Zoom

When Henry James wrote the preface to his revision of The Portrait of a Lady (first published in 1881 and revised for the New York Edition in 1908) he recalled that he produced the novel during his early years in London when to his dazzled sense the ‘international light’ lay especially ‘thick and rich upon the scene.’ Written and serialized when James was at the height of his powers in his early, ‘direct’ mode, The Portrait of a Lady may be taken as James’s grand, definitive statement of the ‘international theme’—only surpassed in the great works of his late phase. But if the novel begins as a fascinating account of the contrast between two societies and two sets of expectations, it becomes a romance and, arguably, a tragedy.

What to expect from this reading group: Each 90-minute session will include approximately 30 minutes of direct address, setting up the historical, biographical and literary context of the text under consideration. This is followed by an hour of discussion, turning to the text to cite specific examples and to respond to questions and comments. The group leader will follow up each session with a lengthy email of notes and comments.

What to read before the first meeting: Please read to the end of chapter XII (approximately 100 pages. Page 59 to 165 in the Penguin Classics edition.)

Reading List: The Penguin Classics Edition of The Portrait of a Lady or any printing that is the New York Edition (revised in 1908)—check the copyright page to confirm the printing date.

Capacity: 30

Please note: All virtual classes are recorded. Please click here for information about our recording policy.

Led by

Sheridan Hay

Sheridan Hay

Sheridan Hay holds an MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars. Her first novel, The Secret of Lost Things (Doubleday/Anchor), which features a lost novel by Herman Melville, was a Booksense Pick, a Barnes and Noble Discover selection, shortlisted for the Border’s Original Voices Fiction Prize, and nominated for the International Impac Award. A San Francisco Chronicle bestseller and a New York Times Editor’s Choice, foreign rights have been sold in fourteen countries. Sheridan has led The Center’s Moby-Dick reading group many times, as well as the popular Henry James group.

About this series

Reading Groups

Whether you’re looking to catch up on great novels or you’re interested in exploring a new writer or literary period, our reading groups offer high-level literary discussion led by experts in the field.

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