The Spoils of Poynton
by Henry James
'The Spoils of Poynton ' Summary
Widow Adela Gereth tells the sensitive and tasteful Fleda Vetch that she's afraid her son Owen (heir to the family home Poynton) will marry the coarse Mona Brigstock. Mrs Gereth dreads the prospect of her painstakingly collected furniture and other art objects being given up to a philistine wife, while being left to live alone in Ricks, a small and coarsely designed cottage bequeathed to her. Owen in turn enlists Fleda to get his mother to leave with a minimum of fuss.
Fleda is shocked to find that Mrs Gereth has decorated Ricks with many of the best pieces from Poynton. Owen reports that Mona is angry with the 'theft' of the valuable heirlooms, and consequently becomes colder towards him. Meanwhile, he begins to show an attraction to Fleda and eventually declares his love for her. Fleda insists that he honour his engagement to Mona unless she breaks it off.
Mrs Gereth returns the fine furniture to Poynton on the assumption that Fleda has secured Owen for herself. After a few days Owen and Mona are reported to be married, and they go abroad. Fleda gets a letter from Owen asking her to select any one piece from Poynton as hers to keep, and she goes to Poynton some days later only to find it has been consumed by fire.
Book Details
Authors
Henry James
America, Britain
Henry James was born in New York City on April 15, 1843, into a wealthy and intellectually stimulating family. His father, Henry James Sr., was a Swedenborgian philosopher and his mother, Mary Roberts...
Books by Henry JamesDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
- Select Speed
Related books
The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe
The Mysteries of Udolpho tells of Emily St. Aubert, who suffers misadventures that include the death of her mother and father, supernatural terrors in...
Bible (DRV) Apocrypha/Deuterocanon: Tobias by Douay-Rheims Version
Tobias is the 17th book of the Bible and one of the historical books in the Old Testament. In the text, Raphael, after revealing his angelic nature, c...
Peterkin Papers by Lucretia P. Hale
The Peterkins were a lovable but comically inept family that possess ingenuity, logic, resourcefulness, and energy--but not common sense. The general...
Watch and Wait; The Young Fugitives by Oliver Optic
Set during the pre-Civil War era, 'Watch and Wait' tells the story of three young fugitives from slavery who seek refuge in the North. The narrative f...
Joan Thursday by Louis Joseph Vance
In a world of danger and intrigue, one woman stands alone. She is Joan Thursday, a master of disguise, a skilled fighter, and a brilliant detective....
A Room With a View by Edward M. Forster
A Room with a View is a 1908 novel by English writer E. M. Forster, about a young woman in the restrained culture of Edwardian era England. Set in Ita...
Return of Alfred by Herbert George Jenkins
After returning from the Great War, a weary and bored hero finds himself lost in the county of Norfolk. Seeking shelter in a country home, he is mista...
Selbstmordverein by Franziska Gräfin zu Reventlow
Ein gar nicht düsteres Trauerspiel, in dem nicht nur ein verkrachter Baron, eine schöne Witwe, ein junger Gymnasiast und seine Freundin, die partout n...
Captures by John Galsworthy
Captures is a collection of sixteen short stories by Nobel Prize-winning author John Galsworthy. The stories explore a wide range of human emotions an...
Entführung by Joseph von Eichendorff
In Eichendorff's "Entführung", the story follows a young woman who is abducted from her home by a band of bandits. She finds herself caught between th...
Reviews for The Spoils of Poynton
No reviews posted or approved, yet...