Other editions of book The Spoils of Poynton

Widow Adela Gereth tells the sensitive and tasteful Fleda Vetch that she's afraid her son Owen (heir to the family home Poynton) will marry the coarse Mona Brigstock. Mrs Gereth dreads the prospect of her painstakingly collected furniture and other art objects being given up to a philistine wife, while being left to live alone in Ricks, a small and coarsely designed cottage bequeathed to her. Owen in turn enlists Fleda to get his mother to leave with a minimum of fuss.

The Spoils of Poynton was originally published under the title of The Old Things. It appeared as a serial in Atlantic Monthly in 1896 and in book form in 1897.The novel is one of James' shorter works. It revolves around the story of Mrs. Gereth and her only son Owen and a young woman named Fleda Vetch, who is in love with Owen. Fleda feels some sympathy for Mrs. Gereth who despairs of her son Owen selling a houseful of antiques from the property (Poynton) he has inherited upon his father's death. Mrs. Gereth's collection of the antiques over many years has been a labor of love.

This early work by Henry James was originally published in 1897 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. Henry James was born in New York City in 1843. One of thirteen children, James had an unorthodox early education, switching between schools, private tutors and private reading.. James published his first story, 'A Tragedy of Error', in the Continental Monthly in 1864, when he was twenty years old. In 1876, he emigrated to London, where he remained for the vast majority of the rest of his life, becoming a British citizen in 1915. From this point on, he was a hugely prolific author, eventually producing twenty novels and more than a hundred short stories and novellas, as well as literary criticism, plays and travelogues. Amongst James's most famous works are The Europeans (1878), Daisy Miller (1878), Washington Square (1880), The Bostonians (1886), and one of the most famous ghost stories of all time, The Turn of the Screw (1898). We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Mrs. Gereth had said she would go with the rest to church, but suddenly it seemed to herthat she should not be able to wait even till church-time for relief: breakfast, at Waterbath,was a punctual meal, and she had still nearly an hour on her hands. Knowing the church tobe near, she prepared in her room for the little rural walk, and on her way down again,passing through corridors and observing imbecilities of decoration, the æsthetic misery ofthe big commodious house, she felt a return of the tide of last night's irritation, a renewal ofeverything she could secretly suffer from ugliness and stupidity. Why did she consent tosuch contacts, why did she so rashly expose herself? She had had, heaven knew, herreasons, but the whole experience was to be sharper than she had feared. To get away fromit and out into the air, into the presence of sky and trees, flowers and birds, was a necessityof every nerve. The flowers at Waterbath would probably go wrong in color and thenightingales sing out of tune; but she remembered to have heard the place described aspossessing those advantages that are usually spoken of as natural. There were advantagesenough it clearly didn't possess. It was hard for her to believe that a woman could lookpresentable who had been kept awake for hours by the wall-paper in her room; yet nonethe less, as in her fresh widow's weeds she rustled across the hall, she was sustained by theconsciousness, which always added to the unction of her social Sundays, that she was, asusual, the only person in the house incapable of wearing in her preparation the horriblestamp of the same exceptional smartness that would be conspicuous in a grocer's wife. Shewould rather have perished than have looked endimanchée.

"The Spoils of Poynton" is a short novel by Henry James first published as a serial titled The Old Things in The Atlantic Monthly in 1896. Retitled "The Spoils of Poynton", it was published as a book in 1897.Poynton Park is the home of old Mrs. Gereth, an antique collector with impeccable taste who has filled her lodgings with splendid art objects and furniture. The possessive Mrs. Gereth wants her weak-willed son to marry a pleasant young woman who shares her refined tastes. Instead he becomes engaged to a vulgar, greedy woman, and the treasures of Poynton become the prize over which mother and fiancée battle. In the end Poynton and its spoils, which have destroyed all of the novel’s relationships...

Mrs. Gareth has been collecting works of art in her Pointon manor all her life, and now, after her husband's death, she must, according to English customs, hand over the manor to her son Owen. The trouble is that the limp Owen is under the influence of his bride, Mona Brixton, who dreams of taking up Poynton's hands and closing access for Mrs Goret forever. And Mrs. Gareth decides to fight for her treasures.

Leopold Classic Library is delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive collection. As part of our on-going commitment to delivering value to the reader, we have also provided you with a link to a website, where you may download a digital version of this work for free. Many of the books in our collection have been out of print for decades, and therefore have not been accessible to the general public. Whilst the books in this collection have not been hand curated, an aim of our publishing program is to facilitate rapid access to this vast reservoir of literature. As a result of this book being first published many decades ago, it may have occasional imperfections. These imperfections may include poor picture quality, blurred or missing text. While some of these imperfections may have appeared in the original work, others may have resulted from the scanning process that has been applied. However, our view is that this is a significant literary work, which deserves to be brought back into print after many decades. While some publishers have applied optical character recognition (OCR), this approach has its own drawbacks, which include formatting errors, misspelt words, or the presence of inappropriate characters. Our philosophy has been guided by a desire to provide the reader with an experience that is as close as possible to ownership of the original work. We hope that you will enjoy this wonderful classic book, and that the occasional imperfection that it might contain will not detract from the experience.

Excerpt from The Spoils of PoyntonFelt a return of the tide of last night's irritation, a renewal of everything she could secretly suffer from ugliness and stupidity. Why did she consent to such contacts? Why did she so rashly expose herself? She had had, heaven knew, her reasons, but the whole experience was to be sharper than she had feared. To get away from it and out into the air, into the presence of sky and trees, flowers and birds, was a necessity of every nerve. The.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The Spoils of Poynton is a novel by Henry James, first published under the title The Old Things as a serial in The Atlantic Monthly in 1896 and then as a book in 1897. This novel traces the shifting relations among three human beings and a magnificent collection of art, decorative arts, and furniture arrayed like jewels in a country house called Poynton. Mrs. Gereth, a widow of impeccable taste and iron will, formed the collection over decades only to have it torn away from her when her son Owen decides to marry a frivolous woman. The story is largely told from the viewpoint of Fleda Vetch, a keenly intelligent young woman of straitened circumstances who, shortly after becoming the intimate friend and companion of Mrs. Gereth, falls in love with Owen. Sympathetic to Mrs. Gereth's anguish over losing the fine things she patiently collected, Fleda shuttles between the estranged mother and son, becoming ever more involved in their affairs.Plot summaryWidow Adela Gereth tells the sensitive and tasteful Fleda Vetch that she's afraid her son Owen (heir to the family home Poynton) will marry the coarse Mona Brigstock. Mrs Gereth dreads the prospect of her painstakingly collected furniture and other art objects being given up to a philistine wife, while being left to live alone in Ricks, a small and coarsely designed cottage bequeathed to her. Owen in turn enlists Fleda to get his mother to leave with a minimum of fuss.Fleda is shocked to find that Mrs Gereth has decorated Ricks with many of the best pieces from Poynton. Owen reports that Mona is angry with the 'theft' of the valuable heirlooms, and consequently becomes colder towards him. Meanwhile, he begins to show an attraction to Fleda and eventually declares his love for her. Fleda insists that he honour his engagement to Mona unless she breaks it off.Mrs Gereth returns the fine furniture to Poynton on the assumption that Fleda has secured Owen for herself. After a few days Owen and Mona are reported to be married, and they go abroad. Fleda gets a letter from Owen asking her to select any one piece from Poynton as hers to keep, and she goes to Poynton some days later only to find it has been consumed by fire...Henry James, OM (15 April 1843 – 28 February 1916) was an American-British author regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the son of Henry James Sr. and the brother of renowned philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James.