The Europeans - Henry James

This light-hearted masterpiece tells of the influence Eugenia and her brother Felix exert on their Bostonian cousins when they visit the New World.

In the hope of making a wealthy marriage, Eugenia, the Baroness Münster, and her younger brother, the artist Felix, descend on the Wentworths, in Boston. Installed in a nearby house, they become close friends with the younger Wentworths - Gertrude, Charlotte and Clifford.

Eugenia's wit, guile and sophistication, and Felix's debonair vivacity from an uneasy alliance with the Puritan morality and the frugal, domestic virtues of the Americans. A rich and delicately balanced comedy of manners, The Europeans weighs the values of the established order against those of New England society, but makes no simple judgements, only subtle contrasts and beautifully observed comparisons.