The Outcry

The Outcry, Henry James's final novel, is an effervescent comedy of money and manners. Breckenridge Bender, a very rich American with a distinct resemblance to J.P. Morgan, arrives in England with the purpose of acquiring some very great art; he is directed to Dedborough, the estate of the debt-ridden Lord Theign. But plutocrat and aristocrat come into unexpected conflict when a young connoisseur, out to establish his own reputation, declares a prize painting from the lord's collection to be in fact an even rarer, and pricier, work than had been thought.