10 Greatest Unfinished Novels

10. The Ivory Tower by Henry James

Towards the end of his life, James - or The Master, as some referred to him - set about a series of highly ambitious and deftly woven novels, some of which were considered the finest writing he ever produced. Had he lived to finish The Ivory Tower, it no doubt would have automatically joined The Ambassadors and The Golden Bowl in superlative estimation.

A dark and brooding critique of money, The Ivory Tower concerns two ageing financiers looking back on their lives and wondering whether they have corrupted themselves and the next generation. The novel, as we have it, is about halfway finished; James died at this juncture, leaving copious notes and half a manuscript.

Whenever James let his imagination turn towards the darker and more sinister aspects of society, the resultant works were always amongst his best: from 'The Turn of the Screw' to 'The Figure in the Carpet.' Eschewing the supernatural aspects of those stories yet retaining the powerful, claustrophobic, and subtle prose of his late period, what we have of The Ivory Tower is magisterial, and was set to be the Master's final exquisite farewell.