When the shy Maggie Verver marries an Italian Prince and her widowed father becomes the husband of the Prince"s former mistress, the stage is set for a complex and bizarre battle between two wives. The brilliant Charlotte Stant is determined to take back her lover; Maggie, to save both marriages and to protect her father from any knowledge of the adulterous liaison. James"s novel is both a virtuoso narrative and an unparalled psychological drama.