The portrait of a lady

The heroine of this powerful novel is the spirited young American Isabel Archer. Blessed by nature and fortune, she journeys to Europe to seek the full realisation of her potential - or in modern terms, 'to find herself' - but what awaits her there may prove to be her undoing. During her journey, wooers vie for her attention, including an English aristocrat, a perfect American gentleman and a sensitive expatriate. But it is only after the ingenue falls prey to the schemes of an infinitely sophisticated older woman that her life takes on its true form.