A Room With a View

Young Englishwoman Lucy Honeychurch is on an Italian holiday with her pushy, very proper older cousin Charlotte Bartlett. Although they each had been promised by the Signora "a room with a view," their windows do not overlook the Arno. A gentleman traveler (clearly of a lower class) overhears the women peevishly discussing their situation and generously offers to trade rooms, since his and his son's rooms have lovely views of the river. Without hesitation Miss Bartlett, who takes her role as Lucy's chaperone very seriously, turns down their improper proposal. This is only the first of several missteps that the unconventional Emerson men will make, but despite her cousin's objections, Lucy finds herself attracted to the younger Mr. Emerson more and more with their every chance encounter in Florence. Setting Lucy up with a choice between passion and propriety, between love and obligation, E. M. Forster issues a pointed and witty critique of Edwardian British society and its hypocrisies in this acclaimed novel.