The Ambassadors

The Ambassadors is a novel written by Henry James and first published in 1903.

The book is a black comedy that follows the journey of Lewis Lamberttt, a middle-aged man, to Europe in pursuit of Chad, the son of his fiancée. Chad is supposedly in the clutches of a perverse woman and Lewis will have the mission to go rescue him to please his rich fiancée.

Initially he arrives in London, where he meets an American woman who has lived in Paris for several years and whose cynical wit impresses him.

He finally arrives in Paris where he sees Chad and is impressed that the boy is more polite now. There they go together to a party where Strether meets Marie de Vionnet, a refined woman, her husband and her daughter Jeanne de Ella. Strether doubts that Chad likes the mother more than her daughter, and he too is smitten with this woman... even considering leaving his fiancée to try a relationship with Marie...