The Friends of the Friends

Friends of Friends is a fantastic story by Henry James, an American classic of psychological prose. Published in 1896, it tells of incredible coincidences, jealousy, and a mysterious destiny. The story is narrated by an unnamed heroine who realizes that among her acquaintances there is a man and a woman whose fates and preferences are incredibly similar. Determined to introduce them, she begins, however, to suffer from jealousy and tries with all her might to prevent their meeting. Yet if two people are destined for each other, they will find a way to meet even after death...

Owen Wingrave is another classic mystical story by Henry James, written in 1892. At the center of the narrative is the fate of a young man who stands against his family and becomes an outcast. In a desperate attempt to preserve the love of his fiancée—who is also ready to give him up—he spends the night in a cursed room of his family estate, but the consequences turn tragic.

The Ghostly Tenant is a classic ghost story, first published in 1876; on closer inspection, it turns out to be a study of the human soul—just as Henry James, the American master of psychological prose, does. A young student finds a real cursed house and can’t resist the temptation to visit. He is met by a mysterious old man, who tells his dramatic story about the ghostly tenant—who, however, pays the rent promptly...

The Last of the Valerii is a dramatic novella with a light touch of mysticism, in the best traditions of Henry James, published in 1874. The Italian count Marco Valerio marries the young American Martha, and they set off to live in an abandoned Roman villa. The young wife dreams of finding in the garden a statue of some deity, but the husband is against it: he is overcome by bad premonitions. The idyll of newlyweds doesn’t last long, because one day they find in the garden a statue of the goddess Juno...