The Aspern Papers by Henry James (August 12-25, 2004)
The Aspern Letters is the story of an American editor obsessed with getting his hands on letters written by Jeffrey Aspern, a writer he is studying. The last missing letters were to Aspern's former lover, Miss Juliana Bordereau. Juliana is now a very old woman, living in Venice. The editor (also the narrator) weasels his way into boarding at the Bordereau home under a false name. While Juliana is aloof, he makes more progress in trying to flatter with her younger sister Tina. Tina misunderstands his intentions, and the narrator is so focused on getting the letters that he deceives and romances her. Through all this, he seemingly fails to realize his affect on the two women. What is key to this story is the honesty of the narrator. Since we know he is both unscrupulous and amoral, the reader must wonder if the narrator is also deceiving us.
