E. M. Forster Book Club: "A Room with a View"

E. M. Forster's 1908 novel A Room with a View is a delight — funny, short, romantic, and unforgettable.

Zadie Smith once said it's her all-time favorite novel. The Modern Library ranks it as one of the 100 best novels in English.

The first half of the story is set in Florence, Italy — so on our first night together, we'll transport ourselves to Italy by feasting our eyes on Florence's artistic and architectural marvels.

Plus we'll dig into Forster's life, and the story of how he turned his experiences into fiction. Forster was a member of the Bloomsbury group that also included Virginia Woolf; one of the characters in The Waves is reportedly based on him.  

A Room with a View was turned into a 1985 film starring Helena Bonham Carter, Maggie Smith, and Daniel Day Lewis, and it's fantastic. We'll talk about the movie — and compare to the novel — on our last meeting together. 

Will meetings be recorded?

Yes, all meetings will be recorded and sent out automatically to everyone who's signed up. 

Who is leading this club?

Christopher Frizzelle is the founder of FrizzLit, the host of the Silent Reading Party, and the former editor-in-chief of The Stranger. 

Which edition of the book are we reading?

Any edition of the novel will work! This edition has a large font that's easy on the eyes, but it lacks footnotes. This edition has a smaller font but it does have explanatory footnotes. Any edition of the novel will work, because the chapters are numbered.

What do I need to read before the first meeting?

Nothing. But you will get a few discussion questions a few days before our first meeting, including: "Have you ever spent time in Florence, Italy?"

Portrait of E.M. Forster 

Spendidly illustrated by Kathryn Rathke