In the Cage

Rating:
Summary: Another example of art imitating life.
Review: I was required to read this book for my American Lit class in college, and though I had heard that James was a bit verbose and that the plot of the novel was purportedly about the life of a telegraph-girl, I nevertheless enjoyed it thoroughly. The novel centers on a young girl who works at the sounding board of an English store. Because she is the main operator, she is privy to all of the customer's private affairs, for she transcribes all of their personal notes. Some of her insights regarding relationships and the often-intimate details of her state of mind seemed to articulate some of my own thoughts. The "hook" of the plot(as concern other female-heroines of her time) revolves around her intense fatuation with a male customer, with whom she eventually falls in love. "In the Cage" is taut, well-written, and eerily similar to the trials and tribulations of everyday life in the present era.