A Room With a View* published in 1908 to both critical and popular acclaim, is an imaginative comedy of manners that depicts a young Englishwoman trying to come to grips with the conflict between her desires and society's expectations.

 Forster’s most memorably romantic exploration of the liberating effects of Italy on the English, A Room with a View follows the closely chaperoned Lucy Honeychurch to Florence, where she meets the eccentric George Emerson and finds herself inspired by his refreshingly free spirit—thus putting her in mind to escape the claustrophobic snobbery of her guardians back in England.

 Its moral is utterly simple: throw away your etiquette book and listen to your heart!

E.M. FORSTER (1879-1970) was an English novelist, short-story writer, essayist, and librettist. He is best known for Maurice, A Passage To India, Howard’s End, and A Room With A View.

* The Modern Library has listed A Room With a View as one of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.