Fiction: The Master

Colm Tóibín has written a mesmerizing book about the middle life of writer Henry James. The story picks up just before James's humiliation as a failed playright, and carries through his purchase of Lamb House in Rye. More important than the plot, however, is how Tóibín has captured James's writing mind: the inspiration for stories, the observation of human interaction, the attention to detail, the preoccupation with memory and family. A quiet book that asks the question, what does art cost its creator?

The Guardian has a good review.