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Participating in the conversation on the relationship between place and identity, this paper examines the peculiar characterizations in Henry James's late novels. It identifies a tourist paranoid turn of mind in a cluster of touring Americans in Europe--Milly Theale (The Wings of the Dove), Maggie Verver (The Golden Bowl), and Lambert Strether (The Ambassadors). A heightened need to secure a "firm footing" plunges these characters into a paranoid mode of existence, with a blind faith in knowledge and a strong suspicion of hidden truth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract:Tóibín reviews Pierre Walker and Greg Zacharias's two volume set, The Complete Letters of Henry James. These two volumes are dominated by the James family's European wanderings and then by Henry's first visit alone to Europe. They throw much light on his family and his country of birth while at the same time helping us towards an understanding of his health problems. Some of James's letters are small masterpieces of description. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]