Described by a web authority on Henry James as "a delightful Parisian bonbon," the comedy traces the complications that result when nasty but true stories about a Paris family get into the American scandal sheet of the novel's title.
James had no love for publicity himself, so he doesn't spare Francie's gaucherie in blabbing about the Proberts' dirty laundry.
Flack, the archetypical newspaperman who can't wait to splatter the latest gossip in newsprint, comes in for a predictable trashing by James.
"For the convenience of society" in identifying Flack, says James, "he ought always to have worn something conspicuous is a green hat or a yellow necktie."
In 1952, the British writer Dodie Smith adapted the novel into a play Letter from Paris, which ran for 27 performances at London's Aldwych Theatre.