COMPLETE AND UNABRIDGED
James regarded The Ambassadors, his portrait of an American in Paris, as 'frankly, quite the best, "all round" of my productions'.
Strether has been despatched by the resourceful Mrs Newsome as an envoy to bring back her son Chad, who has lingered too long in Europe and must be rescued from the bohemian dissipations of Paris. It is believed that Chad is entangled in an unsuitable love affair, and if Strether is successful in persunding the return of the prodigal son, his reward will be Mrs Newsome's hand in marriage. This is the innocent spur in a marvellous novel in which Paris, and a love affair discovered, come tenderly to symbolize all that Strether, James's reticent middle-aged hero, realizes he has missed.