The Portrait of a Lady

By: Henry James

Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson

The Portrait of a Lady tells the compelling and ultimately tragic tale of a beautiful young American woman's encounter with European sophistication. Set principally in England and Italy, the story follows Isabel Archer's fortunes as a variety of admirers vie for her hand. Her choice will be crucial, and she is not wanting for advice, whether from the generous-spirited Ralph Touchett or the charming Madame Merle.

The Portrait of a Lady was an immediate success upon publication; it remains the most popular of James' longer works and is generally regarded as the masterpiece of his early period.

Download the accompanying reference guide.Public Domain (P)2016 Naxos AudioBooks

Juliet Stevenson is brilliant as ever

The sound engineers for this book are not
JS's narration of Henrietta for example was so loud it hurt my ears - esp because that character has such a brash nasal tone. When I'd turn down the volume when her character was speaking then I'd have to turn the volume right back up in order to hear the narrators voice or Ralph's, etc
Juliet has an amazing capacity to do so many voices expressing the personality of each character perfectly. That's talent
As for the story all I could say was WTH? at the end. It's almost as if James got tired of writing and just cut off the story as expediently as possible. To go through so much detail and flesh out each character so well then at the end just finish with She went back to Rome?
Honestly. If he was too bored or tired to end the story properly and with some logical extension of the last couple of scenes, then he should've left it up to one of his talented contemporaries to finish the story

Juliette Stevenson was amazing!

Henry James can be a slog, but Ms. Stevenson makes Henry James intelligible and her voices bring the characters to life.

The reading equivalent of listening to A Brahms Symphony

This is a perfect novel, brilliantly read. I enjoyed It immensely. As I said the equivalent of listening to a soulfully profound Brahms Symphony. Deeply sad but also bright, vivid and strangely optimistic.

Stunning characters

So many characters yet so well delineated I had no trouble remembering who was who. Rich plot. Funny asides about human nature. Many convoluted sentences, but they didn’t really bother me or confuse me. And Juliet Stevenson gives another of her dazzling narrations.

More subtle audio interpretation of Isabel needed

I enjoyed this reading of a novel that I know well. A major problem for me is the way Isabel Archer’s lines are read. She’s reduced to a stereotypical American—almost Henrietta Stackpole. Given the significance of her role, this is a major problem, reflecting the reader’s inability to comprehend fully the protagonist. Editor was needed early on.