As the Victorian era drew to a close and the twentieth century loomed, women began to assert themselves more and take greater liberties. It was a shift that Henry James dealt with in many of his stories, including the beguiling novella Georgina’s Reasons. The Georgina of the title is a mysterious figure who commits a number of transgressions for reasons that ultimately remain unclear. It’s a masterful character study of the caliber only James is capable of producing.