by Henry James
First published 1878
Daisy Miller arrives in Rome with her mother, a simple American lady making the grand tour from hotel to hotel. The young woman possesses a natural freedom that shocks the expatriate community. She strikes up an acquaintance with a handsome Roman of questionable background, parading him openly through society with complete innocence. Daisy introduces her companion everywhere, baffling him with his good fortune while horrifying the proper Americans who witness her behavior. Her guileless confidence in her own judgment clashes with the rigid social codes of both Roman society and the American colony. A small social incident threatens to expose the true nature of her situation. James crafts this brief chronicle from a real anecdote heard in Rome during autumn 1877, transforming a simple moral tale into an examination of American innocence meeting European sophistication. The story captures the collision between New World directness and Old World convention through one young woman's determination to live by her own rules.
Genres: classic-literature, romance, literary-fiction, american-fiction, 19th-century
Vibes: bittersweet, introspective, satirical, socially-observant, witty
Tropes: cultural-clash, fish-out-of-water, innocent-protagonist, social-scandal
Setting: Rome, Italy
Period: 19th century, 1877
164 pages · Paperback · Wildside Press