Howards End

I love reading a classic with my book club and then throwing myself into the history, the author (whom I had not yet read, in this case), and the relevant movie adaptations. This did not disappoint, especially because we read Zadie Smith's On Beauty beforehand, which I highly recommend. Pairing them was brilliant and satisfying.

It felt like the perfect time to read this book after watching the PBS Masterpiece mini-series. And it was.

Howards End is the story of rich and poor, of the difficulties of befriending others, of the price paid when a relationship is broken, and of the sacrifices made in marriage. There are three families in the story. The Schlegels are a brother and two sisters who live together in affluence and read and listen to music and discuss important ideas with their friends. The Wilcoxes are a wealthy family with three adult children. The Basts are a poor man and wife. The various members of the families have their lives intertwined with the various members of the other families in ways that hurt and challenge and destroy.

Howards End will be one of my favorite reads of the year.

I'm sure you'll find far more competent and insightful reviews anywhere so I'll just say that this is a second reading for me and a radically different one. I first read this in my college years and some water has gone under the bridge since then. My sympathies for each characters altered pretty drastically, and I'd like to stress that Helen is a pill. There. I said it.On a practical level I'd recommend this to any fan of good writing, particularly in the [a:Jane Austen 1265 Jane Austen https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1380085320p2/1265.jpg] or [a:Henry James 159 Henry James https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1468309415p2/159.jpg] style. [a:E. M. Forster 19551289 E. M. Forster https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] is subtle but weaves ripples that reverberate long after the book has ended. Also if you have any interest in pre-WWI European society, British in particular, this fits all the cracks that history books leave intact. I'd follow it up with [b:Parade's End 777824 Parade's End Ford Madox Ford https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1450231478l/777824.SY75.jpg 2244425], for the full horror of what was lost and how our world became irrevocably changed while we weren't looking. The other reason I chose to revisit this gem is because I'm seeing [b:The Inheritance 38600016 The Inheritance Matthew Lopez https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1525882920l/38600016.SY75.jpg 60206005] soon. It's meant to be a reworking of [b:Howards End 38374795 Howards End E.M. Forster https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1518837828l/38374795.SX50.jpg 1902726] set in modern times and amongst gay men. Color me intrigued.