I wish to acknowledge that I have peppered the text with phrases and sentences from the writings of Henry James and his family.
I am grateful to Peter Straus, Nan Graham, Andrew Kidd, Ellen Seligman, Catriona Crowe, Brendan Barrington and Angela Rohan for support and advice. Some of this book was written at the Santa
Maddalena Foundation near Florence in Italy and I am grateful to Beatrice Monti for her kindness and hospitality.