Three books:
Great Expectations Charles Dickens--reacquainting myself with a classic
Gilead Marilynne Robinson--I'm not finding this as compelling as some St. Blog's readers have done. There's another set in North or South Dakota by Leif (somebody) that I liked better at least initially.
Carmel, Land of the Soul Carolyn Humphreys
On Deck:
The Master Colm Toibin
Portrait of a Lady Henry James (Not sure about this one, may do either Wings of the Dove or The Ambassadors (It will be one from the later period of James's writing.)
I've read the Henry James novels on your mind. My preference of these 3 is The Wings of the Dove, and you might also consider The Golden Bowl if you haven't read that one yet. For either of those 2, read patiently through the first 50 or so pages like digging through an outer shell to reach the good part inside -- and well worth it!
Dear Ms. Polk,
I've read The Golden Bowl. It took three months of concentrated reading and notetaking to sort out the thickness of the prose and it was worth every minute. It transformed my ability to read. I'm inclined toward Portrait because of the time period of Toibin's novel. It's also one of those I want to read in the original incarnation and in the 1914 redaction, which, I'm given to understand is dramatically different.
Thanks for the note.
shalom,
Steven