Daisy Miller and other stories

These tightly written and popular short stories introduce key issues that are to feature even more prominently in Henry James’ later and more substantial fiction: social attitudes and class, the conflict between American and European cultures - or at least the dilemmas that the two worlds present to his central characters, and the presence of strong, sometimes wayward, but intelligent young women. "Daisy Miller" dominates this small collection and although it is nothing like so ambitious a work as for example the full blown novels, “The Portrait of a Lady” and “The Wings of the Dove” and several others, it is a sharply observed miniature with much to admire and enjoy. James’ penchant for long, involved sentences can be off-putting to the modern reader in particular, but I’d suggest that it’s well worth the effort to persevere. The Wordsworth editions of the classics are wonderful value and often include, as here, most illuminating introductions. It is only a shame that to justify the price rather a small font is almost invariably met with.