Henry James wrote with an imperial elegance of style, whether his subjects were American innocents or European sophisticates, incandescent women or their vigorous suitors. His omniscient eye took in the surfaces of cities, the nuances of speech, dress, an
Victor Baxter is a young boy when a secretive stranger known simply as the Captain brings him from his boarding school to London. Victor becomes the surrogate son and companion of a woman named Liza, who renames him Jim and depends on him for any
