In this second installment of his autobiography James begins to use family letters, especially those of his brother
William and his father
Henry James Sr. Scholarship has shown that James altered the letters with revisions of his own. The book covers the Civil War years, which saw James' younger brother Wilky seriously injured and brought back to the family home in
Cambridge, Massachusetts. James himself was exempted from service due to a back injury, the "obscure hurt" he suffered while putting out a fire with the local volunteer fire department. Meanwhile, James pursued his writing and earned his first fourteen dollars, which he looked at long and proudly. He began to place critical pieces and short stories in magazines like the
North American Review,
The Nation and
The Atlantic Monthly. James' older brother William vacillated between art and science but finally settled on the latter, though many years would pass before he became the philosopher and psychologist of enduring fame. James offers a vivid portrait of his sometimes whimsical father, who insisted that his children "be something" instead of going in for "mere doing." The final chapter of the book covers the ill health and death (at 25) of James' spirited and appealing cousin, Minny Temple. James quotes extensively from her touching letters and says that, for himself and William, her death was "the end of our youth." ==Critical evaluation==