The Aspern Papers

By: Henry James

Narrated by: David Thorn

Henry James' short but much acclaimed suspense novel. Set in Venice, it's the story of an American editor's determination to acquire a collection of unpublished letters at any cost.

The letters are to the former mistress of a famous, deceased poet, Jeffrey Aspern. The mistress, Miss Bordereau is now very elderly, living modestly in a dilapidated old palazzo with her shy, awkward and uncomely niece Tita, an unwitting 'pawn' in the plot.

The strong characterizations of the three main players in the story make for a compelling story of lies, betrayal and psychological warfare. James' gift for building suspense is evident, the tension builds until the very last moment.

Henry James (1843–1916) was an American novelist, a 19th century master of literary realism, a movement to portray ordinary lives and situations devoid of romanticism or stylization.

Born in Manhattan to a prominent family, Henry James traveled extensively, and eventually settled in England. The cultural differences between Americans and Europeans were a favorite subject of his.

Public Domain (P)2009 Alcazar Audioworks

meh

I bought this short story because it was mentioned in a writing course. I get that this is supposed to be an epiphany (or lack thereof) tale, but I felt like the point could have been reached with considerable fewer words and considerable more interesting characters. I struggled to finish it, then found that the one minute summation in my writing course was more than adequate to tell this story. Disappointing.