The Portrait of a Lady opens with the arrival of Isabel Archer, a young American woman whose intelligence, independence, and desire for freedom set her apart. Traveling to Europe, Isabel is drawn into a world of wealth, culture, and subtle social constraints that will quietly shape her fate.

In Volume I, Henry James lays the psychological and moral foundations of a novel that explores choice, self-knowledge, and the cost of independence. With refined prose and acute insight, James begins his unforgettable portrait of a woman confronting the possibilities—and limits—of her own freedom.