 First UK edition | |
| Author | Henry James |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | William Heinemann, London Houghton, Mifflin and Company, Boston |
Publication date | Heinemann: 6-Feb-1897 Houghton: 13-Feb-1897 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom, United States |
| Media type | Print (Serial) |
| Pages | Heinemann: 286 pp Houghton: 323 pp |
The Spoils of Poynton is a novel by Henry James, first published under the title The Old Things as a serial in The Atlantic Monthly in 1896 and then as a book in 1897. This novel traces the shifting relations among three people and a magnificent collection of art, decorative arts, and furniture arrayed like jewels in a country house called Poynton. Mrs. Gereth, a widow of impeccable taste and iron will, formed the collection over decades only to have it torn away from her when her son Owen decides to marry a frivolous woman. The story is largely told from the viewpoint of Fleda Vetch, a keenly intelligent young woman of straitened circumstances who, shortly after becoming the intimate friend and companion of Mrs. Gereth, falls in love with Owen. Sympathetic to Mrs. Gereth's anguish over losing the fine things she patiently collected, Fleda shuttles between the estranged mother and son, becoming ever more involved in their affairs.