
The Portrait of a Lady
British and American novelist, 1843–1916.
The Portrait of a Lady is an 1880 novel by Henry James.
On 3 of the 13 lists it was eligible for.
The Novel Index earns a small commission if you buy through our links, at no extra cost to you. It never affects our rankings. More about how we earn.
At a glance
- Author
- Henry James
- First published
- Serialised 1880–81
- Length
- 640 pages (UK paperback)
- Genre
- Literary fiction, Love story, Class and society, Migration and identity
Is The Portrait of a Lady worth reading?
3 of the 13 best-of lists it could have made include it, among them 100 novels everyone should read (The Telegraph) and The 100 best novels of all time (The Guardian).
| List | Place | Original |
|---|---|---|
| 100 novels everyone should read (The Telegraph, 2009) | No. 4 | See the list |
| The 100 best novels of all time (The Guardian, 2026) | No. 21 | See the list |
| The 100 greatest novels of all time (The Observer, 2003) | Listed | See the list |
Best edition of The Portrait of a Lady
The edition we link to is the OUP Oxford paperback (2009), 640 pages.
- Publisher
- OUP Oxford (paperback, 2009)
- Pages
- 640
- ISBN
- 9780199217946
How critics and readers rate The Portrait of a Lady
Critics rate it most highly: it earned 43% of the points available on critics' lists, against 0% on readers' and booksellers' lists.
Share of the available points it earned on each kind of list it was eligible for. How the scores work
Books like The Portrait of a Lady
If you liked The Portrait of a Lady, try The Golden Bowl.
