The Aspern Papers (BBC Radio 4 Book At Bedtime)

Henry James

Feb 2011 · BBC Digital Audio · Narrated by Samuel West

About this audiobook

A BBC Radio 4 ‘Book at Bedtime’ recording of Samuel West reading from the novella ‘The Aspern Papers’ by Henry James, set against the decaying grandeur of Venice. Originally broadcast 26 April - 4 May 2010. Henry James took as inspiration for his tale ‘The Aspern Papers’ the story of a mistress of Byron's who outlived the poet into lonely old age. He transposed the setting to Venice and cast the city he loved as a character in a taut narrative of literary theft and deception. The lure of previously unseen papers relating to the long-dead poet Jeffrey Aspern brings one of his literary editors to Venice in the grip of an obsession. He broaches the palazzo of Aspern's ancient and discarded lover, Miss Juliana Bordereau, and deceives the fluttering middle-aged niece, Miss Tina, into believing he wants to lodge with them in order to cultivate the garden in his quest to secure the elusive letters and papers. Read by Samuel West. Abridged and produced by Christine Hall.

About the author

Henry James was born on 15th April 1843 in Washington Place, New York to a wealthy and intellectual family and as a youth travelled between Europe and America. His first novel, Watch and Ward, was published in 1871 after first appearing serially in Atlantic Monthly. After a brief period in Paris, James moved first to London and then later to Rye in Sussex. He became a British citizen in 1915 to declare his loyalty to his adopted country as well as to protest against America's refusal to enter the war on behalf of Britain. Henry James was a prolific writer and critic and from around 1875 until his death he maintained a strenuous schedule of publications in a variety of genres: novels, short story collections, literary criticism, travel writing, biography and autobiography. He died in 1916.