Where to start with Henry James

British and American novelist, 1843–1916.

Best Henry James book to start with: The Portrait of a Lady (1880), on 3 of the 13 lists it could have made.

The Portrait of a Lady is the most approachable of his big novels, so begin there: an American heiress goes to Europe, is courted by several men and makes a choice that the rest of the book examines. The pace is steady and the dialogue is clear, so it is a good first James.

If you want to try him in an evening, The Turn of the Screw is a short ghost story in which a governess is sure that something is wrong with her two young charges. The Wings of the Dove is darker and more tightly plotted, and it makes a good bridge to his late style.

The Ambassadors and The Golden Bowl are late James, with long sentences and conversations in which little is said directly. Both reward patience, but read them after the earlier books. The Golden Bowl is the longer and the more demanding of the two.