The men and women in the salons of literary Paris moved like players in a game of knowing and not knowing, pretence and disguise. He had learned everything from them.

In January 1895, Henry James staged his first play in London. But the opening night was a disaster. Agonized by his failure, James travelled to Europe where he quickly found himself among fellow artists in the grand parlours and palazzos of Paris, Rome and Venice. Divining stories that would outlast him and inspire future generations of writers, James had found a version of happiness, even if his most personal secret was something he could never risk revealing.

In The Master, Colm Tóibín captures the inner torment of a writer astonishingly vibrant in his art and yet still, in many ways, a man in hiding. James's attempts at intimacy failed him again and again, as he continually let matters of the mind overtake affairs of the heart. Winner of the Dublin Literary Award in 2006, this remarkable novel is a tribute to James; a striking and moving portrait which gives life to an untold story.

'The Master is a portrait of Henry James that has the depth and finish of great sculpture . . . a triumph' Observer

'A masterly achievement' Independent