A meticulously-observed drama of class warfare, E.M. Forster’s Howards End explores the conflict inherent within English society, unveiling the character of a nation as never before.
A chance acquaintance brings together the preposterous bourgeois Wilcox family and the clever, cultured and idealistic Schlegel sisters. As clear-eyed Margaret develops a friendship with Mrs Wilcox, the impetuous Helen brings into their midst a young bank clerk named Leonard Bast, who lives at the edge of poverty and ruin. When Mrs Wilcox dies, her family discovers that she wants to leave her country home, Howards End, to Margaret. Thus Forster sets in motion a chain of events that will entangle three different families. The author brilliantly portrays their aspirations to personal and social harmony.
E. M. Forster (1879-1970, E M Forster – Humanists UK) was a noted English author, critic and a member of the Bloomsbury group. His first novel, Where Angels Fear To Tread appeared in 1905. The Longest Journey appeared in 1907, followed by A Room With A View (1908), based partly on the material from extended holidays in Italy with his mother. Howards End came out 1910.
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James Ivory gave the novel the full costume drama treatment in 1992, winning 3 Academy Awards. Performances by Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, Vanessa Redgrave, Helena Bonham Carter, Prunella Scales and James Wilby. (Howards End (1992) – IMDb)
400 pages in Penguin English Library
First published 1910
ISBN-13 : 978-0141199405
E.M. Forster