At first glance, the great American author Henry James would not seem a natural subject for Irish novelist Colm Tibn. Hailed by the Irish Independent as "the best Irish writer of his generation," Tibn has written on a wide range of subjects, but his books have generally been rooted in aspects of the Irish and/or Catholic experience. His last novel "The Blackwater Lightship" explored three Irish generations and was a finalist for the 1999 Booker Prize and the 2001 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, while his non-fiction books include "Bad Blood: A Walk Along the Irish Border" and "The Sign of the Cross: Travels in Catholic Europe." Tibn also edited the excellent "Penguin Book of Irish Fiction," as well as a provocative revisionist history of the Irish Famine. But after reading Tibn's at times mesmerizing new novel "The Master," Henry James is a fitting topic after all. James' grandfather was in fact born in Cavan, even if the author is best known as an Anglo-American. Equally important, James' life allows Tibn to explore important questions about sexual identity, ones similar to those he explored in "Blackwater Lightship" as well as in his non-fiction study "Love in a Dark Time." At times "The Master" is slow-moving, but it sheds a revealing light on James. Though he was regarded as a "master" writer, as a human being he comes off tentative, conflicted, and insecure, yet also driven to write. Tibn's book is also an impressive historical sketch of America, Ireland, and England from the U.S. Civil War to the dawn of the 20th century. ($25 / 352 pages / Scribner)