Bunner Sisters Book

I woke up in the middle of the night and reread Henry James' brilliant story Louisa Pallant. The main character and narrator, who's name we never come to know, is an old bachelor once jilted by the title character, who chose someone seemingly more prosperous - though sadly Mr.Pallant lost his fortune and died, leaving her to her own devices. Her daughter, Linda, is clever, accomplished and stunningly beautiful and has been raised to catch a prosperous man. But perceiving an ugly hardness in her daughter, Louisa steps in to prevent her catching her ex's (i.e.the narrator's) naive but wealthy nephew. Set in scenic Europe, though the nephew and narrator are both Americans, this is an outstanding example of Jame's subtle and amusing satire of his times, compatriots and their mores (indeed perhaps also satirizing himself!), written just six years after his great Portrait of a Lady. Some have complained that POAL's heroine, Isabel Archer, lacks the character of a true heroine and is indeed but a shallow portrayal of a woman at best. To this reader Louisa Pallant proves that James was very much aware of his inability to plumb the depths (or even the shallows) of the feminine heart but nevertheless forged onward hoping at least to please his readers sufficiently to earn a living with his pen while still maintaining his own artistic self-respect. From what I have read about his life he seems to have 'died with his boots on'!