A novel by
E.M. Forster published in
1910 about the lives of the
Schelgal sisters and their involvement with the well-off
Wilcox family.
Margaret and Helen Schelgel are wealthy, unmarried and smart. They meet the Wilcox family on a trip to Germany and Helen visits the family later, then falls in love with the young Paul Wilcox. Problems arise, however, and Helen grows disillusioned with the "empty" family. Margaret begins spending time with the family and eventually becomes romantically involved with father Henry Wilcox after his wife, Ruth, passes away. Howards End is an English country house of which much fuss is made over in the concerns of future ownership.
Themes of the novel include conflict between materialism and idealism and choosing between reason and passion, not unlike Jane Austen's "Sense and Sensibility."
It was also made into a decent movie starring Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson and Helena Bonham Carter. Merchant Ivory all the way.
Other books by Forster include: "Where Angels Fear to Tread," The Longest Journey," "A Room With a View" and "A Passage to India."