Washington Square by Henry James - Washington Square is a short novel by Henry James. Originally published in 1880 as a serial in Cornhill Magazine and Harper's New Monthly Magazine, it is a structurally simple tragicomedy that recounts the conflict between a dull but sweet daughter and her brilliant, unemotional father. Dr. Austin Sloper, a wealthy and highly successful physician, lives in Washington Square, New York, with his daughter Catherine. Catherine is a sweet-natured young woman who is a great disappointment to her father, being physically plain and, he believes, dull in terms of personality and intellect. His sister, Lavinia Penniman, a meddlesome woman with a weakness for romance and melodrama, is the only other member of the doctor's household. One day, Catherine meets the charming Morris Townsend at a party and is powerfully drawn to him. Townsend courts Catherine. Sloper strongly disapproves, believing Townsend to be a 'selfish idler' who is after Catherine's money alone. Penniman, however, regards the situation as romantic, and continually meddles in an attempt to bring the two together.