Howards End: Introduction by Alfred Kazin (Everyman's Library Contemporary Classics Series)

E.M. Forster’s 1910 novel Howards End is definitely at the top of the author’s list of bests works (along with A Passage to India). Part of a new genre called the “condition of England” novel, Howards End is primarily set in London and Hertfordshire just a few years before World War I. The novel explores social conventions and codes of conduct through different families: sisters Margaret and Helen Schlegel, two young Bohemian intellectuals who enjoy literature and art; the Wilcoxes, a wealthy, powerful, and business-minded family; and the Basts, who are struggling in the lower-middle class. The story structure gives the reader multiple views of a single, symbolic story. From the idealism and materialism of the upper class to the belittling effects of poverty on the lower, Howards End casts light on humans and human relations in a critical, yet hopeful manner. The novel’s epigraph is also its theme: “Only connect.” Forster based his description of Howards End on his childhood home from 1883 to 1893 — a house at Rooks Nest in Hertfordshire, an area now informally known as Forster Country. The novel itself received widespread acclaim upon publication. Howards End essentially established Forester as one of England’s greatest writers, though it was the last novel he wrote. Ranked 38th on Modern Library’s “100 Best” English-language novels of the 20th century, Howards End has been adapted multiple times. Most notable is the 1992 triple Oscar-winning film version starring Emma Thompson, Vanessa Redgrave, Helena Bonham Carter, Anthony Hopkins, and Samuel West.

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