Written during his convalescence as James recovered from an illness, the stories collected in The Finer Grain embody the strengths of the author's late period. Though not quite as hauntingly complex as novels such as The Portrait of a Lady or The Wings of the Dove, these shorter pieces stand as a testament to Henry James' significance as a major literary force in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries.About the Author: Henry James, OM (15 April 1843 - 28 February 1916) was an American author regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the son of Henry James, Sr. and the brother of renowned philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James.