Here is a "classic" which, sadly, sounds oh so familiar today. James wrote this tale in 1897, of a child caught in the middle of her selfish and self-absorbed parents' acrimonious divorce. Beale and Ida are only interested in their daughter insofar as she can be used as a weapon against each other. With updated language and video supplied by the papparazzi, it could be a reality series on E! or Fox TV, right next to Paris Jackson or Kim Kardashian, any night of the week.
In fact a film based on the novel, but updated to the current day, spawned this new paperback edition of James' work. The two women who wrote the screenplay for the film know their subject up close and personal: one was caught in a parental custody fight as a child, and the other was a party to a failed marriage and bitter divorce.
I have to admit I've always found James' prose convoluted, but he redeems himself with his scapel-sharp dissections of character. And no matter when they occur, we as a species never seem to lose our fascination with picking through the wreckage of other people's screwed up lives.
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