A Room with a View
The most accessible introduction to Forster's characteristic blend of social observation, romance, irony, and moral development.
Author guide
E. M. Forster Books in Order
Edward Morgan Forster (1879–1970) was an English novelist and member of the Bloomsbury circle. His six novels include Where Angels Fear to Tread, The Longest Journey, A Room with a View, Howards End, A Passage to India, and the posthumously published Maurice. He also wrote short stories, literary criticism, essays, biographies, travel books, pageant plays, and the libretto for Benjamin Britten's opera Billy Budd. His later career included extensive work as a critic, broadcaster, and humanist.
modernist fictionliterary realismshort storiesessaysliterary criticismtravel writingbiographydrama
Catalog record updated .
Not sure where to begin?
Start with one of these
Howards End
A central mature novel that brings together his major concerns with class, property, culture, and human connection.
A Passage to India
His major imperial and cross-cultural novel, offering the fullest expression of his historical and political imagination.
Outside the series
Bibliography by category
Novels (6)
- Where Angels Fear to Tread
novel · 1905
Chaperoned by her young friend Caroline Abbott, free-spirited, recently widowed Lilia Herriton journeys to the Tuscan town of Monteriano where she falls in love with Gino Carella, a dashing villager who is twelve years her junior. The…
- The Longest Journey
novel · 1907
"The cow is there," said Ansell, lighting a match and holding it out over the carpet. No one spoke. He waited till the end of the match fell off. Then he said again, "She is there, the cow. There, now."
- A Room with a View
novel · 1908
Lucy has her rigid, middle-class life mapped out for her, until she visits Florence with her uptight cousin Charlotte, and finds her neatly ordered existence thrown off balance. Her eyes are opened by the unconventional characters she…
- Howards End
novel · 1910
Howards End is a novel by E. M. Forster about social conventions, codes of conduct and relationships in turn-of-the-century England. A strong-willed and intelligent woman refuses to allow the pretensions of her husband's smug English…
- A Passage to India
novel · 1924
When Adela Quested and her elderly companion Mrs Moore arrive in the Indian town of Chandrapore, they quickly feel trapped by its insular and prejudiced 'Anglo-Indian' community. Determined to escape the parochial English enclave and…
- Maurice
novel · 1971
An astonishingly frank and deeply autobiographical account of homosexual relationships in an era when love between men was not only stigmatised, but also illegal, E.M. Forster's Maurice is edited by P.N. Furbank with an introduction by…
Nonfiction (7)
- Alexandria: A History and a Guide
travel-book · 1922
- Pharos and Pharillon
travel-book · 1923
- Aspects of the Novel
literary-criticism · 1927
The Clark Lectures, sponsored by Trinity College of the University of Cambridge, have had a long and distinguished history and have featured remarks by some of England's most important literary minds. Leslie Stephen, T.S. Eliot, F.R.…
- Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson
biography · 1934
- Virginia Woolf
literary-biography · 1941
- The Hill of Devi
travel-memoir · 1953
- Marianne Thornton: A Domestic Biography
biography · 1956
Short fiction (2)
- The Celestial Omnibus and Other Stories
short-story-collection · 1911
A small collection of short stories; The Story of a Panic, The Other Side of the Hedge, The Celestial Omnibus, Other Kingdom, The Curate's Friend, The Road from Colonu
- The Eternal Moment and Other Stories
short-story-collection · 1928
Essays and speeches (3)
- Abinger Harvest
essay-collection · 1936
- Two Cheers for Democracy
essay-collection · 1951
A collection of poetical essays revealing the social conscience of the modern English novelist.
- The Feminine Note in Literature
essay-pamphlet · 2001
Plays (3)
- The Abinger Pageant
pageant-play · 1934
- England's Pleasant Land
pageant-play · 1940
- Billy Budd
libretto · 1951
Posthumous collections (6)
- Albergo Empedocle and Other Writings
posthumous-fiction-collection · 1971
- The Life to Come and Other Stories
posthumous-short-story-collection · 1972
Only two were published in his lifetime. Most of the other stories remained unpublished because of their overtly homosexual themes; instead they were shown to an appreciative circle of friends and fellow writers, including Christopher…
- Arctic Summer and Other Fiction
posthumous-fiction-collection · 1980
- Forster in Egypt: A Graeco-Alexandrian Encounter
posthumous-essay-collection · 1987
- The Uncollected Egyptian Essays of E. M. Forster
posthumous-essay-collection · 1988
- The Prince's Tale and Other Uncollected Writings
posthumous-essay-collection · 1997
Frequently asked questions about E. M. Forster
Who was E. M. Forster?
E. M. Forster, born Edward Morgan Forster, was an English novelist, essayist, and literary critic who studied at King’s College, Cambridge. He spent his final decades there as an honorary fellow.
Sources: kings.cam.ac.uk (opens in a new tab)britishlibrary.cn (opens in a new tab)
What influenced E. M. Forster’s writing?
His Cambridge education, friendships with figures such as Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson, membership in the Bloomsbury circle, and travels in Italy, Greece, India, and Egypt all shaped his intellectual and literary development.
Sources: kings.cam.ac.uk (opens in a new tab)britishlibrary.cn (opens in a new tab)
Was E. M. Forster gay?
Yes. Forster had relationships with men and wrote Maurice as a homosexual love story, but kept it unpublished during his lifetime because homosexuality was illegal in Britain; it appeared posthumously in 1971.
Sources: kings.cam.ac.uk (opens in a new tab)charleston.org.uk (opens in a new tab)
What did E. M. Forster do after he stopped writing novels?
He continued working as a critic, lecturer, essayist, broadcaster, and public intellectual. He also became the first president of the National Council for Civil Liberties and remained active at King’s College, Cambridge.
Sources: kings.cam.ac.uk (opens in a new tab)britishlibrary.cn (opens in a new tab)
What honors did E. M. Forster receive?
Forster refused a knighthood in 1949 but accepted a Companion of Honour in 1953, eight honorary degrees, and the Order of Merit on his ninetieth birthday.
Sources: kings.cam.ac.uk (opens in a new tab)britishlibrary.cn (opens in a new tab)