Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • The American

  • By: Henry James
  • Narrated by: Robin Lawson
  • Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins
  • 3.8 out of 5 stars (4 ratings)
Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
The American cover art

The American

By: Henry James
Narrated by: Robin Lawson
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £16.99

Buy Now for £16.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

Roderick Hudson cover art
The Siege of London cover art
The Aspern Papers cover art
Daisy Miller cover art
The Ambassadors cover art
The Bostonians cover art
The Portrait of a Lady cover art
Elsie Dinsmore cover art
Jennie Gerhardt cover art
The Sowers cover art
Middlemarch cover art
North and South cover art
Felix Holt, The Radical cover art
A Moment of Silence cover art
Anna Karenina cover art
The Idiot [Blackstone] cover art

Summary

During a trip to Europe, wealthy American businessman Christopher Newman proposes marriage to the scintillating and beautiful aristocrat Claire de Cintré. To his dismay, he comes up against the machinations of her impoverished but proud family, who find Newman to be a vulgar example of the American privileged class. Brilliantly combining elements of comedy, tragedy, romance, and melodrama, this tale of thwarted desire vividly contrasts 19th-century American and European manners.

Literary critic Leon Edel, considered the foremost authority on the works of Henry James, wrote of this novel: “Behind its melodrama and its simple romance is the history of man’s dream of better worlds, travel to strange lands, and marriage to high and noble ladies. At the same time, the book reveals a deep affection for American innocence and a deep awareness that such innocence carries with it a fund of ignorance.”

Public Domain (P)1992 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“A masterpiece of American romanticism in which James shows us his profound grasp of what he was ultimately to call ‘the Americo-European legend.’” (Leon Edel, literary critic, biographer, and foremost authority on the works of Henry James)

What listeners say about The American

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.