This terse and startling novel, written just before The Spoils of
Poynton and What Maisie Knew, is the story of a struggle for
possession--and of its devastating consequences. Three women seek to
secure the affections of one man, while he, in turn, tries to satisfy
them all. But in the middle of this contest of wills stands his
unwitting and vulnerable young daughter. The savage conclusion of The
Other House makes it one of the most disturbing and memorable of Henry
James's depictions of the uncontrollable passions that lie beneath the
polished veneer of civilized life.
Oh blest Other House, which gives me thus at every step a precedent, a
divine little light to walk by... --Henry James