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Henry James

The liar

(written 1887, text of 1889)

Introduction

by Adrian Dover

This tale perhaps lacks the last ounce of refinement which we would expect of James if he had written it say ten years later. Nevertheless, its unpleasant subject provides a certain wry commentary on polite society, which will reappear, much strengthened, in those tales and novels of the 1890’s such as The given case, Mrs Medwin and The awkward age. We also have to be careful, even this early and in the third-person narrative to disentangle our response from that of the ‘point of view’ in the tale.

For details of the text sources and subsequent critical discussion see the bibliography. You may be interested in details of the source text for this edition, which can be found on a separate page, otherwise just start reading.