num_pages: 704
description: An American odyssey that reveals the fascinating complexities of one of history's most brilliant eccentric and daring families The James family one of America's most memorable dynasties gave the world three famous a novelist of genius (Henry) an influential philosopher (William) and an invalid (Alice) who became a feminist icon despite her sheltered life and struggles with mental illness. Although much has been written on them many truths about the Jameses have long been camouflaged. The conflicts that defined one of American's greatest families-- homosexuality depression alcoholism female oppression--can only now be thoroughly investigated and discussed with candor and understanding. Paul Fisher's grand family saga House of Wits  rediscovers a family traumatized by the restrictive standards of their times but reaching out for new ideas and ways to live. He follows the five James offspring (hotel children Henry called them) and their parents through their privileged travels across the Atlantic; interludes in Newport and Cambridge; the younger boys' engagement in the Civil War; and William and Henry's later adventures in London Paris and Italy. He captures the splendor of their era and all the members of the clan--beginning with their mercurial father who nurtured inspired and damaged them setting the stage for lives of colorful passions intense rivalries and extraordinary achievements. House of Wits is a revealing cultural history that revises and completes our understanding of its remarkable protagonists and the changing world where they came of age.
language: English
title: House of Wits: An Intimate Portrait of the James Family
publisher: Henry Holt and Co.