The Turn of the Screw

For lucidity and compactness of style, James's short novels, or novelles, are shining examples of his genius. Few other writings of the century have so captured the American imagination. When Daisy Miller, the tale of the girl from Schenectady, first appeared in 1878, it was an extraordinary success. James had discovered nothing less than "the American girl"—free spirited, flirtatious, an innocent abroad determined to defy European convention even if it meant scandal . . . or tragedy.…