The American Reading Order

The American (1877) by Henry James is the author's first major international novel and the work in which he first articulated the theme that would define his career — the encounter between American optimism and European complexity. Christopher Newman, a wealthy, good-natured, self-made American businessman, arrives in Paris determined to 'have the best of everything' and decides that what he wants is a beautiful, accomplished wife from the European aristocracy. He falls in love with Claire de Cintré, a French widow from the Bellegarde family, and her family accepts his courtship — until, for reasons Newman cannot fully understand, the Bellegarde family withdraws their approval and Claire enters a Carmelite convent. The novel is organized around Newman's gradual comprehension that he has encountered something beyond his understanding: an aristocratic social logic that no amount of money can overcome.