III.

Years in Europe

In 1869 James traveled to Europe on his own. He observed not only the countries but also his fellow citizens: Americans adrift in Europe. He saw them as bewildered by an environment with deep historical associations and filled with a sense of the beauty around them as well as feelings of unease at the human corruption they observed. His year abroad provided James with the international theme of much of his fiction. In many cases, an innocent American is lured but finally betrayed by Europe.

James returned to Europe in 1872. He spent most of the next two years working on Roderick Hudson (1875), a novel describing the disintegration of a young American sculptor living in Rome. Soon after finishing it, he decided to settle permanently in Europe. In 1875 James moved to Paris, where he finished his novel The American (1877). But he felt himself an outsider in France and in 1876 went to England to live.

Except for visits to the United States and travels in Europe, James spent the rest of his life in England. In 1897 James purchased Lamb House in the town of Rye, where he divided his time between writing and entertaining visitors. James became a British citizen in 1915 to protest the neutrality of the United States in the early years of World War I (1914-1918).