The Ambassadors is a novel by classic author Henry James. It was published with revisions in 1903.
Mrs.
Newsome is a wealthy widow in Massachusetts whose son Chad is in Paris. She wants him to return to Massachusetts and take
responsibility of their family business. She hires Lambert Strether to go to Paris and persuade Chad to return to Massachusetts. Strether's success as an
ambassador will ensure his marriage to Mrs Newsome upon his return.
On his way to Paris, Strether meets Maria Gostrey, an expatriate American whose wit and charm introduce him to the pleasures, the good life in Europe. He eventually finds Chad in Paris and finds a young man quite comfortable and sophisticated, who is not in the least eager to return to Massachusetts nor to America for that matter. Obviously, he has been greatly influenced by Madame de Vionnet.
Lambert Strether finds himself no longer that interested in pursuing his assignment as the ambassador. Mrs Newsome realizes this through the letters of Strether. Mrs Newsome sends her daughter Sarah, with Sarah's husband and sister-in-law, to appeal to Chad.
Along the way, Lambert Strether finds out that his sympathies rests with Chad, and that the relationship of Chad with Madame de Vionnet is intimate. Lambert, however, remains detached and content to let life be rather than participate actively in the situation. Instead of staying in the alluring European life, he returns to Massachusetts.