With every recent story Mr. James seems to have entered a new field.
"What Maisie Knew" was certainly a wide departure from his previous
work, and "In The Cage," the life of a girl behind the wire screen of
an English telegraph office, is as novel as one could wish. The story
is slight and the incidents are few, but the charm of Mr. James's
style, the absolute precision of his expression, the keenness of the
analysis make the book remarkable in contemporary fiction.
We could not wish for a better representation of the art of Mr. Henry
James. In appearance it is only a sketch of a girl who works the
telegraph in an office that is part of a grocer's shop in the West End,
but as background there is the extravagant world of fashion throwing
out disjointed hints of vice and intrigue in messages handed in as
indifferently as if the operator were only part of the machine.
Nevertheless, she is a woman, too, and feminine interest and curiosity
so quicken her wits that she is able to piece together "the high
encounter with life, the large and complicated game" of her customers.
This, in fact, is the romance in her life, the awakening touch to her
imagination, and it is brought into skilful contrast with the
passionless commonplace of her own love.--_Academy_.
12mo. Cloth. Uniform with "What Maisie Knew." $1.25.