Post by GRWelsh on Nov 24, 2023 12:33:01 GMT -5
I finished this up last week. I read it because it was a classic book partly set in Florence and it was included in my Kindle Unlimited trial period. The book was a bit stuffy since it was a snapshot of British manners and hang-ups from a certain time period that can seem petty or silly today. But it is also a time capsule documenting great changes that were starting to occur, such as well-to-do women becoming more independent and assertive, and breakdowns going on between different classes of society. Manners governing human behavior -- especially among women -- may have reached their height of complexity and subtlety in the late Victorian or early Edwardian England, and are keenly observed by E. M. Forster. The novel is beautifully written, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.