Howards End (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)

"Howards End is a beautifully subtle tale of two very different families brought together by an unusual event. The Schlegels are intellectuals, devotees of art and literature. The Wilcoxes are
practical, wealthy, and materialistic. When the elder Mrs. Wilcox dies and her family discovers
she has left their country home, Howards End, to one of the Schlegel sisters, a crisis erupts
between the two families.
Written in 1910, "Howards End is a symbolic exploration of the social, economic, and intellectual forces at work in England in the years preceding World War I. Forster's novel asks: In a changing modern society, what should be the relation between the inner and outer life, between the world of the intellect and the world of business? Can they ever, as Forster urges, "only connect"?
Mary Gordon is a McIntosh Professor of English at Barnard College. Her best-selling novels include "Final Payments, "The Company of Women, and "Spending.