The Golden Bowl tells an old story, the adult romance of adultery, set amongst the rich and glamorous, in a novel built around a symbolic work of art. Its dazzling opulence disguises’abysmal' desire. What the novel deals with is not the thing itself, the precious object or the human situation, but with what it means, and how to read the meaning; with seeing through appearances; and finally, with recognising the absolute otherness of what stands outside the self. This is a novel dominated by solid materialism, but directed towards a different reality, an inner world of feeling and imagination. It is a work of exploration, of analysis. It is also an emotional drama, exciting and draining to read, where spectators are drawn in to the dangers they help to create.

Henry lames’s last completed novel, The Golden Bowl, is the story of two flawed marriages. The lives and relationships of Maggie Verver and her widowed American millionaire father, Adam, are changed and challenged by the beautiful and charming Charlotte Stant, who is the former lover of Maggie’s husband, the impoverished Italian,Prince Amerigo. The narrative is underpinned by complex symbolism. The gilded crystal bowl with its almost invisible flaw is the vehicle which James subtly uses to reveal past misdemeanors and make his characters face their own defectsin this classic tale of redemption.