The Princess Casamassima

Romance and anarchist violence collide in this thought-provoking thriller about the London underworld and the political unrest that seethes there. Set in the late 19th century and written in James's elegant, impressionistic style, The Princess Casamassima follows the life of bookbinder Hyacinth Robinson. The illegitimate son of a French woman imprisoned for murdering his father, Hyacinth is raised by an impoverished seamstress in a poor area of London. Falling in with a group of radical revolutionaries, committing himself to an assassination plot, he is then torn between his ideals and the temptations of beauty and privilege when the enigmatic Princess Casamassima enters his world. In depicting Hyacinth's destiny, Henry James probes the tension between radical politics and personal desire.