''The Reverberator'' is a short novel by

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

, first published as a serial in ''

Macmillan's Magazine ''Macmillan's Magazine'' was a monthly British magazine published 1859 to 1907 by Alexander Macmillan. The magazine was a literary periodical that published fiction and non-fiction works primarily by British authors. Thomas Hughes convinced Mac ...

'' in 1888, and then as a book later the same year. Described by
web authority
on Henry James as "a delightful Parisian bonbon," the

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

traces the complications that result when nasty but true stories about a

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

family get into the American scandal sheet of the novel's title.

Plot summary

George Flack is the Paris correspondent for an American

scandal sheet Tabloid journalism is a popular style of largely sensationalist journalism, which takes its name from the tabloid newspaper format: a small-sized newspaper also known as a half broadsheet. The size became associated with sensationalism, an ...

called ''The Reverberator''. Francie Dosson, a pretty but not always tactful American girl, confides to Flack some

gossip Gossip is idle talk or rumor, especially about the personal or private affairs of others; the act is also known as dishing or tattling. Etymology The word is from Old English ''godsibb'', from ''god (word), god'' and ''sibb'', the term for the ...

about the Proberts, the Frenchified (but originally American) family of her fiancé, Gaston Probert. Predictably, to everybody except Francie, the nasty gossip winds up in ''The Reverberator'', much to the horror of the stuffy Proberts. Francie makes no attempt to hide her role in giving Flack the juicy details. Gaston is initially dismayed by his fiancée's indiscretions. But with the somewhat surprising support of his sister Suzanne, he decides to accept Francie, who never tries to shift the blame to Flack. Gaston stands up to the outraged members of his family and marries his fiancée.

Key themes

James had no love for

publicity In marketing, publicity is the public visibility or awareness for any product, service, person or organization. It may also refer to the movement of information from its source to the general public, often (but not always) via the media. The sub ...

himself, so he doesn't spare Francie's gaucherie in blabbing about the Proberts' dirty laundry. On the other hand, he doesn't mind drubbing the stick-necked

snobbery ''Snob'' is a pejorative term for a person who feels superior due to their social class, education level, or social status in general;De Botton, A. (2004), ''Status Anxiety''. London: Hamish Hamilton it is sometimes used especially when they pr ...

of many members of the Probert family. In the last analysis, James clearly sides with his heroine and grants her a happy ending. Flack, the archetypical

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

man who can't wait to splatter the latest gossip in newsprint, comes in for a predictable trashing by James. "For the convenience of society" in identifying Flack, says James, "he ought always to have worn something conspicuous is a green hat or a yellow necktie." Francie has divided

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as Art criticism, art, Literary criticism, literature, Music journalism, music, Film criticism, cinema, Theater criticism, theater, Fas ...

s somewhat. She's honest and appealing, but also naive to a fault. Gaston wavers and hesitates like many a Jamesian male, but he eventually does the right thing.

Critical evaluation

Even the ever-critical

William James William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher and psychologist. The first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States, he is considered to be one of the leading thinkers of the late 19th c ...

liked his younger brother's work in this "Parisian bonbon." Almost everybody concedes the novel's charm, but some have demurred at the slightness of the material. Of course, after the critical failure of ''

The Bostonians ''The Bostonians'' is a novel by Henry James, first published as a serial in ''The Century Magazine'' in 1885–1886 and then as a book in 1886. This bittersweet tragicomedy centres on an odd triangle of characters: Basil Ransom, a political c ...

'' and ''

The Princess Casamassima ''The Princess Casamassima'' is a novel by Henry James, first published as a serial in ''The Atlantic Monthly'' in 1885 and 1886 and then as a book in 1886. It is the story of an intelligent but confused young London bookbinder, Hyacinth Robinson ...

'', James might have been gun-shy about weightier topics. In the ''

New York Edition The ''New York Edition'' of Henry James' fiction was a 24-volume collection of the Anglo-American writer's novels, novellas and short stories, originally published in the U.S. and the UK between 1907 and 1909, with a photogravure frontispiec ...

'' preface, James calls the novel a ''jeu d’esprit'' and "so slight a composition." But he then launches into a long, dense discussion of the structure, origins and characters of the book.

Stage adaptation

In 1952, the British writer Dodie Smith adapted the novel into a play '' Letter from Paris'', which ran for 27 performances at

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Aldwych Theatre The Aldwych Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Aldwych in the City of Westminster, central London. It was listed Grade II on 20 July 1971. Its seating capacity is 1,200 on three levels. History Origins The theatre was constructed in th ...

References

* ''The Novels of Henry James'' by

Edward Wagenknecht Edward (Charles) Wagenknecht (March 28, 1900 – May 24, 2004) was an American literary critic and teacher who specialized in 19th-century American literature. He wrote and edited many books on literature and movies, and taught for many years at v ...

(New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1983) * ''The Novels of Henry James'' by Oscar Cargill (New York: Macmillan Co., 1961)

External links

* *
The New York Edition text of ''The Reverberator'' (1908)

* ttp://www.loa.org/volume.jsp?RequestID=58§ion=notes Note on the various texts of ''The Reverberator''at

Library of America The Library of America (LOA) is a nonprofit publisher of classic American literature. Founded in 1979 with seed money from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Ford Foundation, the LOA has published more than 300 volumes by authors ...

web site {{DEFAULTSORT:Reverberator, The 1888 British novels 1888 American novels Novels by Henry James Novels first published in serial form Works originally published in Macmillan's Magazine Novels about journalists