Product Description

A wonderful story of questioning, disillusionment, and conversion, Where Angels Fear to Tread tells the story of a prim English family’s encounter with the foreign land of Italy. When attractive, impulsive English widow Lilia marries Gino, a dashing and highly unsuitable Italian twelve years her junior, her snobbish former in-laws make no attempts to hide their disapproval. But their expedition to face the uncouth foreigner takes an unexpected turn when they return to Italy under tragic circumstances intending to rescue Lilia and Gino’s baby.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #320227 in Books
• Published on: 2008-02-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780141441450
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From the Publisher
Forster's acclaimed first novel displays his finely honed talent for using the tragi-comic incident to comment on human existence.Focusing on a family of London suburbanites, the respectable, pompous and appearance-obsessed Herritons, Where Angels Fear To Tread is a comedy of manners that utilizes the elements of farce to demonstrate how a comic clash of cultural sensibilities can quickly turn to tragedy. This is Forster's first novel and is a precursor to his later masterpieces, A Passage to India and A Room with a View.

From the Inside Flap
Forster's acclaimed first novel displays his finely honed talent for using the tragi-comic incident to comment on human existence.Focusing on a family of London suburbanites, the respectable, pompous and appearance-obsessed Herritons, Where Angels Fear To Tread is a comedy of manners that utilizes the elements of farce to demonstrate how a comic clash of cultural sensibilities can quickly turn to tragedy.  This is Forster's first novel and is a precursor to his later masterpieces, A Passage to India and A Room with a View.

About the Author
E. M. Forster (1879–1970) is the author of six novels, including A Room with a View and Howards End, many short stories, and numerous works of nonfiction.

Zadie Smith is the acclaimed author of White Teeth and On Beauty, shortlisted for the Booker Prize (see pp. 2–3).

Gilbert Adair, writer, film critic, and journalist, is the author of Love and Death on Long Island, among other novels.

Customer Reviews

A remarkable battle of wills; unforgettable ending
Forster's gentle, wry wit can be seen developing in this novel, where we follow the tumultuous effects of Lilia Herriton's "unspeakable" marriage to the young Italian - Gino. To save themselves from certain disgrace from the priggish society of English suburbia, the Herriton familys main concern is to put a quick stop to any unsavoury rumours. To this end, Mrs Herriton - the force behind the family - despatches her son on an assignment to save the family name. This however is a vain act; as events soon take an unexpected and tragic turn. The death of Lilia during childbirth is bittersweet news for the pompous Herritons who are now forced by their own convictions to plan further missions to Monteriano, to secure - by bribing the young Gino - the fate of the child.

Although primarily involved with the English and their narrow-minded and reactionary concerns, Forster weaves an underlying love interest throughout the latter part of the novel. He develops each character carefully and we are often surprised by a view or action expressed by the conceited Herriton children - Philip and Harriet, and by the demure Caroline Abbott (Lilias old friend and travelling companion). It is the combination of these three - the English task force abroad - and their own, individual ideals, that causes the novel to evolve into a remarkable battle of wills; and to an unforgettable and poignant ending.

The structure and rhythm of Forsters first novel is both graceful and sensitive. The comedy is perfectly placed and his powers of observation already display his characteristic adroitness for seeing far beyond the predictable. It is a wonderful novel.

Forster's first - and his best!
This is by far my favorite novel by Forster, and many rereadings have made it one of my favorite novels, period. In his first book, Forster shows a subtlety and lightness of touch which I, at least, feel that he lost as he got more self-consciously "philosophical" in later books like Howard's End and A Passage to India. He makes wonderful use of the Italian settings and of Italian art, bringing them to vivid life, undermining tourist cliches, and weaving them gracefully into his main themes. No other book I know balances romanticism and irony so perfectly.

Good, short read
Hovering somewhere around 100 pages, _Where Angels Fear to Tread_ is a good, short weekend read. The novela tells the story of an upperclass British family that travels to Italy to save the son of their late daughter-in-law from a savage upbringing by his Italian father, their daughter-in-laws second husband. There aren't a whole lot of happy moments in the novella - on the whole it's pretty depressing, but it was never boring, and the characters, some lovable, some completely aggravating, were at least interesting. Having never read any other works by E.M. Forster, I am not cut out to comment on style, but knowing that this was his first work makes me really want to read his later novels - this was great for a first effort, so I'm sure his more mature work is fantastic.