Howards End

First published in 1910 Howards End is considered by many to be Forster’s greatest novel. Set at the beginning of the twentieth century it follows the fortunes and inter-relations between three family groups of differing backgrounds and outlooks.

At the top of the money tree are the Wilcoxes who represent broadly materialism and an upper-class English archetype. The family has made money in the colonies and also have a property - Howards End - owned by the terminally-ill mother, Ruth Wilcox, who must decide how best to pass on the estate.

A decision that triggers much of the novel’s ensuing conflict, scandal and tragedy…

Ruth is great friends with the half-german Schlegel sisters; Margaret, our generous-spirited heroine, and the younger Helen - inquisitive, dramatic and egalitarian by nature. Intellectually curious and cultured they marry into the Wilcox clan whilst also being connected to Jacky and Leonard Bast - a couple from the lower-middle classes. But the Bast’s already precarious financial situation and livelihood is thrown into even greater jeopardy as their history and relations with their better-off friends comes to light.

Is reconciliation possible? And how?