Don’t read this novella without a bookmark—or at least a good memory for page numbers. The text consists of walls of words, paragraphs of the main character’s internal monologue, without many proper nouns or distinctive lines of dialogue to make the layout of a given page in any way memorable.
Here’s an example of my own streams of consciousness while reading the novella: Let me see, I think the unnamed protagonist was thinking about Captain Everard when I last put the book down—which was quite a long time ago—Here’s his name on the page—Reads several pages—A sense of deja vu, like seeing familiar trees in the forest when you’re lost and wandering around in circles—Finally, a line of dialogue that I recognize—Yes, I have read these pages before—So I just wasted all that time—No, it’s not a waste, it’s proper literature, like I promised myself I’d read to make up for all the science fiction—Genre fic has clearly destroyed my ability to appreciate the brilliance of this novella—
In all seriousness, the novella is worth reading for the insights into the mind of a unique protagonist—an intelligent working class woman in Victorian London—but James could have tried using ellipses for a change….
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In the cage is a nice, very readable novella by Henry James. The story is based on the day dreams of a young woman, who as a switch board operator connects the rich and the wealthy. In her dreams she doesn't merely connect them, but connects with them. As the novella is writen from the perspective of the girl, the reader cannot see the rich very clearly, and is all but limited to her view. However, with just a little bit more insight into her reality developing gradually, the novella has a wry tang of irony. At just over 110 pages, this is a short, and light read among the many works of Henry James. Very enjoyable. ( )

Adored the nameless protagonist and her love/hate relationship to the upper classes whose secrets she keeps; a revealing glance at the telegraphic age!

I'm afraid this has confirmed me in my antipathy towards James. Just really dull and totally unengaging. Gave up 10% through. No rating.

A telegraphic worker becomes involved with people whom she assists in transmitting their personal messages. ( )