"The American" is Henry James novel about American businessman and civil war veteran Christopher Newman, a man who has found early fortune in business and having retired decides to take a tour of Europe. There he meets Claire de Cintre, a young widow from an aristocratic Parisian family, whom he falls in love with. The novel is primarily concerned with this courtship. "The American" is a melodramatic social comedy that exemplifies the stark contrasts between America and Europe at the end of the 19th century.