Henry James (1843 — 1916) was an American author regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism. This brilliant satire of the women's rights movement in America. The story of the ravishing inspirational speaker Verena Tarrant and the bitter struggle between two distant cousins who seek to control her. Will the privileged Boston feminist Olive Chancellor succeed in turning her beloved ward into a celebrated activist and lifetime companion? Or will Basil Ransom, a conservative southern lawyer, steal Verena's heart and remove her from the limelight?