“Henry James and Family” Forum
updated:
Monday, May 19, 2025 - 3:34pm
Henry James Review
deadline for submissions:
Sunday, March 1, 2026
In chapter 4 of The Ambassadors, following a scene that few who have read could ever forget,Strether’s dinner with Maria Gostrey, “whose dress was ‘cut down,’ . . . in respect to shoulders and bosom,” “face to face over a small table on which the lighted candles had rose-colored shades,” and after attending a play in London, Strether outlines the nature of his journey to Paris to Miss Gostrey, who asks whether Mamie Pocock is Chad Newsome’s “own niece.” Strether tries to clarify:
“Oh, you must yourself find a name for the relation. His brother-in-law’s sister. Mrs. Jim’s sister-in-law.”
It seemed to have on Miss Gostrey a certain hardening effect. “And who in the world’s Mrs. Jim?”