Publisher's Synopsis
The Last of the Valerii is a novella written by the renowned American author, Henry James. The story is set in Rome and revolves around the Valerii family, who are of ancient Roman descent. The protagonist of the story is a young American woman named Charlotte, who is visiting Rome with her mother. Charlotte becomes fascinated by the Valerii family and their history, particularly the last surviving member, Prince Cassimiro.As Charlotte spends more time with the Valerii family, she becomes increasingly drawn to Cassimiro, despite his reserved and distant nature. The story explores the themes of love, duty, and tradition, as Charlotte struggles to reconcile her feelings for Cassimiro with the expectations of her own society.Throughout the novella, James masterfully weaves together the historical and cultural context of Rome with the personal struggles of his characters. The Last of the Valerii is a poignant and insightful exploration of the complexities of human relationships, and a testament to James' skill as a writer.She rode with him sometimes in the tufty shadow of aqueducts and tombs, and sometimes suffered him to show his beautiful wife at Roman dinners and balls. She played dominoes with him after dinner, and carried out in a desultory way a daily scheme of reading him the newspapers. This observance was subject to fluctuations caused by the Counts invincible tendency to go to sleep, a failing his wife never attempted to disguise or palliate. She would sit and brush the flies from him while he lay picturesquely snoozing, and, if I ventured near him, would place her linger on her lips and whisper that she thought her husband was as handsome asleep as awake.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.