The Turn of the Screw
Henry James (1843–1916) is widely regarded as one of the greatest novelists in English of all time. In books such as The Portrait of a Lady and The Ambassadors he explored the clash between the ‘old’ and ‘new’ cultures of Europe and the United States, often through the figure of an American emigrant. As well as the major novels with their extraordinary richness and ambiguity, James wrote stories, novellas and plays, travel books including Italian Hours and The American Scene, and cornerstone works of literary criticism such as The Art of Fiction. James was born in New York; from 1876 he settled in London and from 1897 in Rye, East Sussex, but he continued to visit America. His unique transatlantic perspective and subtle understanding of human character mean that he has long been recognised as a master, and his most famous works – notably The Turn of the Screw – have often been adapted for film, theatre, radio and TV.
Colm Tóibín is the author of eleven novels, including The Master, Brooklyn and its sequel Long Island, and The Magician, and three collections of stories. He has been three times shortlisted for the Booker Prize. In 2021, he was awarded the David Cohen Prize for Literature. Tóibín was appointed the Laureate for Irish Fiction 2022-2024.