What Maisie Knew - Softcover

James, Henry

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1434103757 ISBN 13: 9781434103758

Publisher: Waking Lion Press, 2014

Synopsis

What did Maisie know? At first, not much. She is only six years old when her mother and father divorce. Sharing custody, her embittered parents use the child as a pawn in their battles with each other. Neglected and exploited, Maisie sees and hears her parents' adulterous affairs, their remarriages, and their utter immaturity and selfishness, hastening her advance from childhood to precocious maturity. Not just a tale of innocence corrupted, What Maisie Knew sparkles with dark humor and savage wit. Henry James takes particular aim at the mores of the English upper classes in his tale of a sensitive girl and her spirited reaction to thoughtless, selfish adults. Written in an era when divorce was far less common than it is today, this 1897 novel is strikingly modern. The story of the sensitive daughter of divorced, irresponsible parents, What Maisie Knew has great contemporary relevance as an unflinching account of a wildly dysfunctional family.

About this title

From the Publisher

Founded in 1906 by J.M. Dent, the Everyman Library has always tried to make the best books ever written available to the greatest number of people at the lowest possible price. Unique editorial features that help Everyman Paperback Classics stand out from the crowd include: a leading scholar or literary critic's introduction to the text, a biography of the author, a chronology of her or his life and times, a historical selection of criticism, and a concise plot summary. All books published since 1993 have also been completely restyled: all type has been reset, to offer a clarity and ease of reading unique among editions of the classics; a vibrant, full-color cover design now complements these great texts with beautiful contemporary works of art. But the best feature must be Everyman's uniquely low price. Each Everyman title offers these extensive materials at a price that competes with the most inexpensive editions on the market-but Everyman Paperbacks have durable binding, quality paper, and the highest editorial and scholarly standards.

From the Inside Flap

In the aftermath of an acrimonious divorce, young Maisie Farange finds herself shuttled back and forth between her father and mother, both of them amoral and monstrously self-involved. After her parents find new spouses—and after the new spouses find themselves drawn to each other, as much for Maisie's sake as their own—Maisie feels even more misplaced. As she observes the world of adults and their adulteries, and finds herself in the position to decide her own fate, Henry James's rendering of her child's-eye view—his depiction of what precisely Maisie knows—draws the reader into this scathing satire of social mores and insightful meditation on familial dependence. This Modern Library Paperback Classic of James's 1897 masterpiece is set from the definitive 1908 New York Edition.

Edition details

• Publisher: Waking Lion Press
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1434103757
• ISBN 13: 9781434103758
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 262