Subtitled 'The Private History of the Aspern Papers', this is a tale of literary treachery which occurred in Florence where Claire Clairmont, former lover of Byron and mother of his daughter Allegra, lived until her death in 1879. It also tells the story of the Henry James novella The Aspern Papers, which is based on that household. The novel opens in 1876 with Claire almost 80 and looked after by her niece Paula, and being paid a huge rent by the crooked Silsbee. He becomes Paula's lover to help his efforts to acquire the Shelley papers. Claire's great-niece Georgina, aged 13, narrates the story. Henry James disguises the setting and people in his novella, but is worried about the fate of his letters to Constance Woolson. A brilliant novel, beautifully told.
