I enjoyed this story. It is fun, subtle and a gently moving plot. It plays on the various middle classes and their snobberies towards each other in the Victorian/Edwardian eras of England. It is also a sweet love story. ( )

Realized I had never actually read this, just seen the movie. Gobbled it up in 2 enjoyable days. ( )

When English woman Lucy Honeychurch travels through Italy with her cousin and chaperone Charlotte Bartlett, they meet the Emersons, father and son, at their boarding house in Florence. The unconventional George Emerson kisses Lucy, and Charlotte whisks her off to Rome, but back in England, the Emersons take a house in the same village as the Honeychurches. Eventually, Lucy breaks off her engagement to Cecil Vyse, and almost flees to Greece to join the Miss Alans (also from the boarding house in Florence) before Mr. Emerson causes her to see that she and George are in love.

Quotes

"He has the merit - if it is one - of saying exactly what he means." (Mr. Beebe to Charlotte Bartlett, re: Mr. Emerson, 9)

Then the pernicious charm of Italy worked on her, and, instead of acquiring information, she began to be happy. (23)

"It is so sad when people who have abilities misuse them, and I must say they nearly always do." (Miss Alan, 39)

Why were most big things unladylike? (45)

This solitude oppressed her; she was accustomed to have her thoughts confirmed by others or, at all events, contradicted; it was too dreadful not to know whether she was thinking right or wrong. (54)

Happy Charlotte, who, though greatly troubled over things that did not matter, seemed oblivious to things that did... (64)

She recalled the free, pleasant life of her home, where she was allowed to do everything, and where nothing ever happened to her. (65)

...in Italy...her senses expanded; she felt that there was no one whom she might not get to like, that social barriers were irremovable, doubtless, but not particularly high. You jump over them...(127)

Indoors...she reflected that it is impossible to foretell the future with any degree of accuracy, that it is impossible to rehearse life. A fault in the scenery, a face in the audience, an irruption of the audience on to the stage, and all our carefully planed gestures mean nothing, or mean too much. (153)

Life is easy to chronicle, but bewildering to practice... (164)

"Every moment of his life he's forming you, telling you what's charming or amusing or ladylike, telling you what a man thinks womanly; and you, you of all women, listen to his voice instead of your own." (George Emerson to Lucy, 191)

"I have just used you as a peg for my silly notions of what a woman should be." (Cecil to Lucy, 199)

"'Life,' wrote a friend of mine, 'is a public performance on the violin, in which you must learn the instrument as you go along.'" (Mr. Emerson to Lucy, 233) ( )

Accompanied by Charlotte, Lucy goes to Florence to find herself, and she learns about Italy's social culture. The story follows Lucy's character arc as she meets the men of Italy alongside Charlotte, whose English societal views start to change.


I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review. ( )

Lucy Honeychurch, a young Englishwoman is in Italy among others of her class, all of whom have brought with them their social prejudices. A father and son of a lower social class offer her a room with a better view, an act that arouses suspicion in Lucy’s chaperone who sees lurid expectations attached to the offer and doesn’t want to endanger themselves. As several other rules become breached, Lucy fears for her good name. The Edwardian England moral code, outrageous to a present-day American, presents a big issue for Lucy. Forster’s style, heavy on dialogue, sometimes left me confused as to who was speaking. Also, he wove Greek myth into the narrative whose allusions I didn’t always understand. Nonetheless, the story is emotionally compelling and the theme of assessing one’s basic cultural beliefs resonates today.
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