An American heiress newly arrived in Europe, Isabel Archer does not look to a man to furnish her with her destiny; instead she desires, with grace and courage, to find it herself. She then becomes captivated by the charms of Gilbert Osmond. To him, she represents a prize worth seventy thousand pounds; through him, she faces a tragic choice. Paperback , Penguin Popular Classics , 544 pages Published January 31st 2002 by Penguin Books (first published 1881)