The Ambassadors

The Ambassadors, published in 1903, is considered by the author himself to be his most 'perfect' work of art. In this novel, with much humour and delicacy of perception, the author depicts the reaction of different American types to the European environment. Lambert Strether, a middle-aged American of no particular achievements, is sent to Paris by Mrs. Newsome, a wealthy widow, to discover what, or who, is keeping her son Chad in the notorious city of pleasure and to persuade him to return to Massachusetts and his responsibilities as head of the family business. Strether's success as an ambassador will ensure his marriage to Mrs. Newsome. In Paris he finds Chad miraculously transformed by the influence of a charming French woman, Madame de Vionnet. As the Parisian spring advances, he himself succumbs to the congenial atmosphere of Paris and the mysterious charm of Madame de Vionnet. Mrs. Newsome sends further ambassadors—her daughter Sarah and Sarah's husband and sister-in-law – to appeal to Chad.....