The Aspern Papers (1888) by Henry James is the story of an American editor obsessed with getting his hands on letters written by a dead poet named Jeffrey Aspern. This unnamed editor narrates the story. He arrives in Venice to meet Aspern's former lover, Miss Juliana Bordereau, who is now an old woman. He believes that Aspern’s last missing letters were to Juliana, and he aims to obtain them.
The narrator weasels his way into boarding at the Bordereau home under a false name. Juliana is aloof, but he makes some progress in flattering her younger sister Tina. Tina misunderstands his intentions, and the narrator is so focused on getting the letters that he deceives and romances her. Through all this, the narrator seemingly fails to realize his effect on the two women.
What is key to this story is the honesty of the narrator. Since we know he is both unscrupulous and amoral, we must wonder if the narrator is also deceiving us.
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