'Henry James Knew All My Secrets', by Lev Raphael

'Henry James Knew All My Secrets', by Lev Raphael

I found Henry James in college and he told me who I was. My dad was just as much a bully as the father in Washington Square, a grim little masterpiece, and even though my Czech father didn't look anything like Ralph Richardson in the 1949 film version of Washington Square, when it came to contempt, they were twins.  I felt as miserable under his scrutiny as Catherine in Washington Square. But the James book that blew me wide open was The Portrai…