In this portrait of a 'young woman affronting her destiny', Henry James created one of his most magnificent heroines: Isabel Archer, a beautiful, spirited American, who is brought to Europe by her wealthy aunt with the expectation that she will soon marry. But Isabel, resolved to enjoy the freedom that her fortune has brought her to determine her own fate, turns down two eligible suitors. Then she finds herself irresistibly drawn to Gilbert Osmond. Charming and cultivated, Osmond sees Isabel as a rich prize waiting to be taken. Beneath his veneer of civilized behaviour, Isabel discovers cruelty and a stifling darkness.