Wings of the Dove (Abridged‪)‬

The vivacious Kate Croy finds herself torn between love and money, friendship and ambition; “the crown of Henry James’s achievement.” Now a critically acclaimed film.

The vivacious Kate Croy finds herself torn between love and money, friendship and ambition; “the crown of Henry James’s achievement.” Now a critically acclaimed film.

Kate Croy is a beautiful but impoverished young woman forced to live with her successful but astringent Aunt, Maude Lower. Lower intends Kate to marry the aristocratic Lord Mark, but she is already in love with a journalist, Merton Densher. Though their lack of money prevents the two from marrying, the destitute couple soon become friends with Milly Theale, an American heiress with an ambiguous ailment and an obvious affection for Densher. As Theale’s health grows worse, Kate weaves a web of intrigue that pushes Densher into Theale’s arms in the hopes of securing her fortune. Theale retreats to Venice in the last throes of her sickness, and Densher, realizing the extent of Kate’s manipulation, forces her to choose between money and love.

Reviews

“Prunella Scales’s cultivated tones are well matched to the cadences of Jamesian language. In some of his scenes of satrirical observation her delivery of dialogue cleverly highlights a gentle but piercing wit.”
Herald 19/3/98

“”Listeners are likely to be drawn into the novel and rewarded for having chosen the aural route as opposed to the more arduous, printed path. James’s dense style is leavened when read aloud. This makes the descriptive passages more evocative and the dialogue more active and convincing.”
Observer 8/2/98