Live all you can; it’s a mistake not to.”
Worried that her son, Chad, may have succumbed to the charms of the alluring city of Paris, and the mysterious Madam de Vionnet, Mrs Newsome sends her ‘ambassador’ Lambert Strether to Paris to bring him back. However, Strether himself falls under the spell of Paris, and finds Chad a rather refined man.
Over time, Mrs Newsome is convinced that she should send another ‘ambassador’ to confront the two men.
A compelling story about Strether, his journey and its unexpected conclusion, The Ambassadors is a novel teeming with sensitive characters, lost youth, and people caught in the frenzied pace of life.
Woven around James’ favourite theme - the clash of American innocence and the European experience - The Ambassadors, considered Henry James’ finest work, is a searing portrait of a man’s awakening. Published in 1903, it still remains a timeless classic.