On this day - April 15th - in 1912 the 'unsinkable' Titanic sank, in 1865 President Lincoln died after being shot by an assassin and in 1843, Henry James, the American writer was born in New York City.

Henry James was born into a wealthy, highly educated family and from an early age was familiar with the classic literature of England, France, Germany and Russia. Although he attended Harvard Law School he preferred reading literature to studying the law.

He travelled extensively in Europe and then moved to England in 1876 where he became a British subject in 1915.

The theme of the expatriate runs through most of Henry James’ work as does what he perceived to be the conflict between the new and aggressive culture of the United States and that of the ‘older’ Europe.

At Silksoundbooks, we have three exclusive audiobook readings written by Henry James. Jennifer Ehle reads Washington Square, one of his funniest and most enjoyable of novels, with the suspense carried right up until the last page as to how the contest between father and daughter will end.

Jeremy Northam reads two audiobooks by Henry James, The Real Thing and Other Short Stories, highlighting his ability to mix tragedy and comedy and The Aspern Papers, one of the wittiest and most scathing of his novellas.

Three great Henry James audio books - only from Silksoundbooks.com