I learnt a lot about the architecture of stories when adapting this novel by Henry James. Normally when I adapt a story I identify the key events, locations and emotions and use these elements to create a narrative thread that gets to the heart of the story. With The Portrait of A Lady it was a difficult task to know what elements to extract and exclude. The plot is so finely crafted. If you take one strand of the story out there is always a risk that the integrity of the narrative could fall apart.

Thankfully I believe I did a pretty good job of adapting this timeless story.