The Author of Beltraffio

"The Author of Beltraffio" by Henry James is a short story published in 1884. An American admirer visits English novelist Mark Ambient at his Surrey home, where he encounters troubling family tensions. The writer's wife despises his literary work, considering it corrupt and immoral. When their sickly young son falls gravely ill, maternal devotion takes a dark turn, leading to devastating consequences. James crafted this macabre tale of aesthetic conflict and domestic discord based on a real Victorian marriage, creating an unsettling exploration of how ideological differences can destroy a family. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 76.2 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. Originally issued 2002-03-01. Transcribed by Transcribed from the 1922 Macmillan and Co. edition by David Price. Proofed by Chris Jelley, Micky McClure and David. This work is in the public domain in the United States. Sourced from Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3145).