“James is one of the most satisfying of all letter-writers because of thte endlessly surprising plasticity with which he handles the language of even his most trifling communications… and may our correspondence be as lovingly edited and presented as it is here by Dottoressa Rosella Mamoli Zorzi of Venice University.” – Jonathan Keates, Spectator
“Paints a vivid and absorbing picture of life in fin de siecle Venice.” – Rachelle Thackeray, Independent on Sunday
“This well-edited and beautifully produced little volume allows one, however fleetingly, to be a mosquito on the palazzo wall.” – Stephen Coote, Gay Times
“Marvellously observant.” – Caroline Gascoigne, Sunday Times
“Writing with an impressionistic immediacy and familiarity of tone, he conveys the breadth of his experience with all of his powers of psychological shading, and none of his usual restraint.” – Ivan Juritz, Observer