Henry James books in order
American and British writer
- Lived
- 1843–1916
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Books
- 82
Henry James published 40 novels, 17 novellas, 13 short story collections, 11 non-fiction books and 1 other book, beginning with The American (1877). The best-known is The Turn of the Screw (1898).
Updated September 2026
Where to start with Henry James
Standalone novels in order
Roderick Hudson (1875)
The American (1877)
The Europeans (1878)
Watch and Ward (1878)
Confidence (1879)
Hawthorne (1879)
Washington Square (1880)
The Portrait of a Lady (1881)
The Siege of London (1882)
A Little Tour in France (1884)
The Art of Fiction (1884)
The Bostonians (1886)
The Princess Casamassima (Oct 1886)
The Reverberator (1888)
Partial Portraits (May 1888)
The Tragic Muse (1890)
Daisy Miller & an International Episode (1892)
Theatricals (1894)
The Other House (1896)
The Spoils of Poynton (1897)
What Maisie Knew (1897)
In the Cage (1898)
The Awkward Age (1899)
The Sacred Fount (Feb 1901)
The Wings of the Dove (1902)
Stories of Writers & Artists (1903)
The Ambassadors (1903)
The Better Sort (1903)
The Golden Bowl (1904)
English Hours (1905)
The American Scene (1907)
Lady Barbarina (1908)
The Whole Family (Oct 1908), with Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman and William Dean Howells
Italian Hours (1909)
The Finer Grain (1910)
The Outcry (1911)
The Ivory Tower (1917)
The Sense of the Past (1917)
The Art of the Novel (1934)
Henry James (1961)
Novellas in order
A Passionate Pilgrim (1871)
Madame De Mauves (Mar 1874)
An International Episode (1878)
Daisy Miller (1879)
The Madonna of the Future (1879)
The Diary of a Man of Fifty (1880)
The Aspern Papers (1888)
The Lesson of the Master (1888)
A London Life (Sep 1888)
The Turn of the Screw (1898)
The Beast in the Jungle (1903)
The Author of Beltraffio (1909)
The Altar of the Dead (1915)
The Coxon Fund (1915)
The Death of the Lion (1915)
Glasses (1916)
The Pupil (1916)
Short story collections in order
The Siege of London, the Pension Beaurepas, and the Point of View (1882)
Tales of Three Cities (1884)
Stories Revived (1885)
The Private Life; the Wheel of Time; Lord Beaupre; the Visits; Collaboration; Owen Wingrave (1893)
Terminations: The Death of the Lion. the Coxon Fund. the Middle Years. the Altar of the Dead (1895)
Embarrassments (1896)
The Two Magics (1898)
The Soft Side (1900)
The Aspern Papers and Other Tales (1908)
Masters of the Macabre (1914)
Great American Short Stories (2002)
Non-fiction in order
French Poets and Novelists (1878)
Portraits of Places (1883)
Essays in London and Elsewhere (1893)
Transatlantic Sketches (1900)
William Wetmore Story and His Friends (1903)
The Question of Our Speech; the Lesson of Balzac (1905)
Views and Reviews (1908)
A Small Boy and Others (1913)
Notes of a Son and Brother (1914)
The Oxford Book of American Essays (1914)
The Middle Years (1917)
Other books in order
Picture and Text (1893)
Film and TV adaptations
- The Europeans (1979)Film · from The Europeans
- Daisy Miller (1974)Film · from Daisy Miller
- The Heiress (1949)Film · from Washington Square
- Washington Square (1997)Film · from Washington Square
- The Portrait of a Lady (1996)Film · from The Portrait of a Lady
- The Bostonians (1984)Film · from The Bostonians
- The Aspern Papers (2018)Film · from The Aspern Papers
- What Maisie Knew (2012)Film · from What Maisie Knew
- The Innocents (1961)Film · from The Turn of the Screw
- Presence of Mind (1999)Film · from The Turn of the Screw
- The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020)TV · from The Turn of the Screw
- The Turning (2020)Film · from The Turn of the Screw
- The Wings of the Dove (1981)Film · from The Wings of the Dove
- The Wings of the Dove (1997)Film · from The Wings of the Dove
- The Green Room (1978)Film · from The Beast in the Jungle
- The Beast (2023)Film · from The Beast in the Jungle
- The Beast in the Jungle (2023)Film · from The Beast in the Jungle
- The Golden Bowl (2000)Film · from The Golden Bowl
Free to read
All free classics
About 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 son of theologian Henry James Sr. and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James.
Biography from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
Henry James FAQ
- How many books has Henry James written?
- Henry James published 40 novels, 17 novellas, 13 short story collections, 11 non-fiction books and 1 other book that we list, as of September 2026.
- What order should I read Henry James's books in?
- Publication order is a safe choice; the full list is above. Most readers start with The Turn of the Screw.
- What is Henry James's last book?
- The Sense of the Past (1917).
- What is Henry James's most famous book?
- The Turn of the Screw (1898) is Henry James's most widely read book.
- Which Henry James books have been adapted?
- 11 books have been adapted for film or TV, including The Europeans (film, 1979), Daisy Miller (film, 1974), Washington Square (as The Heiress, film, 1949) and The Portrait of a Lady (film, 1996).
- Can I read Henry James's books for free?
- Yes. 40 books by Henry James are in the public domain in the US and free to read online or download here.
Authors like Henry James
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Charles Dickens
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Charles Darwin
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Guy de Maupassant
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Winston Churchill
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H. G. Wells
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Sources: book lists and dates from Wikidata and Open Library, ratings from Open Library readers, free texts from Project Gutenberg. Last updated September 2026.