A review by lostinthelibrary
The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James

relaxing sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This didn't quite give me what I wanted from it. I was hoping from the blurb and the opening for a sort of female grand tour with lots of locations and atmosphere of 19th Century Europe. However, this novel is more in the vein of Thomas Hardy where a likeable woman is pursued by a flurry of unlikeable men. But even then, this didn't have the heart of Hardy nor am I sure that these men
Spoiler barring Osmond
were intended to be unlikeable!

Isabel herself starts off as a great character with a lot of independence and wit but this characterisation is definitely lost towards the end of the novel and I found her eventual fate very sad. The book definitely lost steam towards the ending and was a bit of a disappointment for me.  
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