The Wings of the Dove: With 11 Illustrations and a Free Online Audio File

The Wings of the Dove is a 1902 novel by Henry James. This novel tells the story of Milly Theale, an American heiress stricken with a serious disease, and her effect on the people around her. Some of these people befriend Milly with honorable motives, while others are more self-interested.

"The Wings of the Dove," represents to my memory a very old--if I shouldn't perhaps rather say a very young--motive; I can scarce remember the time when the situation on which this long-drawn fiction mainly rests was not vividly present to me. The idea, reduced to its essence, is that of a young person conscious of a great capacity for life, but early stricken and doomed, condemned to die under short respite, while also enamoured of the world; aware moreover of the condemnation and passionately desiring to "put in" before extinction as many of the finer vibrations as possible, and so achieve, however briefly and brokenly, the sense of having lived. (summary taken from the Preface by Henry James)

Milly is based on Minny Temple (18451870), James' beloved cousin who died from tuberculosis.

In 1998, the Modern Library ranked The Wings of the Dove 26th on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.

The Wings of the Dove has one of the strongest critical positions of any of James' works.

This book is unabridged and appears as it was first intended. First published in 1902.

The audio link will only work on Kobo's iOS and Android apps.

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