 The idea behind the project came about in 1968 when Jhabvala, a long time admirer of Henry James, gave the novel to read to James Ivory.Ivory, who had watched BBC television productions of Henry James, thinking that he could do much better, became interested in adapting "The Europeans" as it could be done with a modest budget using houses of the period, natural locations, and a small cast with few extras.By 1974, Jhabvala had completed a screenplay, but production was delayed for years as financing proved to be difficult to obtain.