One may as well begin with Helen's letters to her sister. HOWARDS END,TUESDAY.Dearest Meg, It isn't going to be what we expected. It is old and little, and altogether delightful - red brick. We can scarcely pack in as it is, and the dear knows what will happen when Paul (younger son) arrives tomorrow. From hall you go right or left into dining-room or drawing-room. Hall itself is practically a room. You open another door in it, and there are the stairs going up in a sort of tunnel to the first-floor. Three bedrooms in a row there, and three attics in a row above. That isn't all the house really, but it's all that one notices - nine windows as you look up from the front garden. Then there's a very big wych-elm - to the left as you look up - leaning a little over the house, and …
One may as well begin with Helen's letters to her sister. HOWARDS END,TUESDAY.Dearest Meg, It isn't going to be what we expected. It is old and little, and altogether delightful - red brick. We can scarcely pack in as it is, and the dear knows what will happen when Paul (younger son) arrives tomorrow. From hall you go right or left into dining-room or drawing-room. Hall itself is practically a room. You open another door in it, and there are the stairs going up in a sort of tunnel to the first-floor. Three bedrooms in a row there, and three attics in a row above. That isn't all the house really, but it's all that one notices - nine windows as you look up from the front garden. Then there's a very big wych-elm - to the left as you look up - leaning a little over the house, and standing on the boundary between the garden and meadow. I quite love that tree already. Also ordinary elms, oaks - no nastier than ordinary oaks - pear-trees, apple-trees, and a vine. No silver birches, though. However, I must get on to my host and hostess. I only wanted to show that it isn't the least what we expected. Why did we settle that their house would be all gables and wiggles, and their garden all gamboge-coloured paths? I believe simply because we associate them with expensive hotels - Mrs. Wilcox trailing in beautiful dresses down long corridors, Mr. Wilcox bullying porters, etc. We females are that unjust.
Written in 1910, when England was the superpower of the world, the author explores the question who will inherit England. He does this through exploring three types of people, each of whom represent a possible answer. If an American author in 2010 sought out the same question what would the answer be? Would the American decline be as obvious as the English? Are we living through that now? What is important a life of the mind or a life of making money or pulling one self up to a higher station in life? These questions are as relevant now as they were when it was written.
Written in 1910, when England was the superpower of the world, the author explores the question who will inherit England. He does this through exploring three types of people, each of whom represent a possible answer. If an American author in 2010 sought out the same question what would the answer be? Would the American decline be as obvious as the English? Are we living through that now? What is important a life of the mind or a life of making money or pulling one self up to a higher station in life? These questions are as relevant now as they were when it was written.