The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Bostonians, The

BOSTONIANS, The, a novel of American life, by Henry James, published in 1886. Written in a satirical vein, it presents with unpleasant fidelity a strong-minded Boston woman possessed by a &ldquo;mission,&rdquo; &ldquo;who takes life hard,&rdquo; is never so happy as when struggling, striving, suffering in a cause which throughout the novel is the emancipation of women.