Why did Henry James decide that he could write better while living abroad?

Henry James did not decide to live abroad simply because he preferred Europe to the United States; rather, his decision was the result of a deliberate effort to evaluate his professional and personal circumstances. After spending time in Boston, traveling through Europe (primarily Rome), and enduring a winter of intense hackwork in New York City, James concluded that he could both write more effectively and live more affordably abroad.1

This realization prompted his long expatriation, during which he established himself as a significant figure in transatlantic culture. While he initially explored living in the United States, the practical and creative advantages he found overseas ultimately shaped the trajectory of his career and his prolific output of fiction.1