Henry Jamess third novel is an exploration of his most powerful perennial theme - the clash between European and American cultures the Old World and the New. Christopher Newman a self-made American millionaire in France falls in love with the beautiful aristocratic Claire de Bellegarde. Her family however taken aback by his brash American manner rejects his proposal of marriage. When Newman discovers a guilty secret in the Bellegardes past he confronts a moral dilemma: Should he expose them and thus gain his revenge Jamess masterly early work is at once a social comedy a melodramatic romance and a realistic novel of manners.