Where Angels Fear to Tread

By E. M. Forster

Where Angels Fear to Tread (1905) is a novel by E. M. Forster, originally entitled Monteriano. The title comes from a line in Alexander Pope's An Essay on Criticism: "For fools rush in where angels fear to tread".

• Language: English
• Publisher: Start Classics
• Release date: Dec 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9781627938778

E. M. Forster

E.M. Forster (1879-1970) was an English novelist. Born in London to an Anglo-Irish mother and a Welsh father, Forster moved with his mother to Rooks Nest, a country house in rural Hertfordshire, in 1883, following his father’s death from tuberculosis. He received a sizeable inheritance from his great-aunt, which allowed him to pursue his studies and support himself as a professional writer. Forster attended King’s College, Cambridge, from 1897 to 1901, where he met many of the people who would later make up the legendary Bloomsbury Group of such writers and intellectuals as Virginia Woolf, Lytton Strachey, and John Maynard Keynes. A gay man, Forster lived with his mother for much of his life in Weybridge, Surrey, where he wrote the novels A Room with a View, Howards End, and A Passage to India. Nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature sixteen times without winning, Forster is now recognized as one of the most important writers of twentieth century English fiction, and is remembered for his unique vision of English life and powerful critique of the inequities of class.

Reviews for Where Angels Fear to Tread

[psalva-706031 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I am left rattled by this novel. The plot twists were rather jarring. I felt my expectations being toyed with. There was a travel sequence in the middle that had language which delighted me, and some of the dialogue was really sharp. However, the plot did not resolve in a satisfying way for me. I’m doing a read-along of all of Forster this year and I’m looking forward to see how his writing developed. There is brilliance here, but in a small dose.

[snash_44 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The lure and dangers of venturing out of ones home and culture are explored.

[julesjones_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

There are plenty of other reviews, so I will only note that I liked part of the novel, but it didn't quite gel for me even though I like this sort of social satire. I don't regret the time spent reading it but am not inclined to re-read. It's out of copyright in some countries, and thus available on public domain sites.

[sometimeunderwater · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Read this and 'A Room with a View' in quick succession. This is definitely the deeper, and more tragic of the two. Some of the characterisation is a little pantomime-villain, particularly the mother and Harriet (at first, until she becomes simply mad), but captures the Italian spirit well. Lilia gets a bum deal.

[dylkit · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The copy I have has a rather garish film tie -in cover. I like this one much better. Ironically, the actor who played Gino is the only member of the cast not to have an entry on Wikipedia..but I digress.

I have read Room With a View and Howards End. Both due for a re-read, I think. Unfortunately I don't think Angels is a patch on them, but I understand it was his first novel, so I will forgive him that. It was the first novel set in Italy that I have read since going there myself, but I was disappointed in Forster's characterisation of it. He seems to have a love/hate relationship with Italy and to be attracted and repulsed by it at the same time. The result was Italy seemed like nothing more than a painted backdrop inhabited by stereotypes.

Forster said "The object of the book was the improvement of Phillip". I think Phiilip only improved marginally, if at all.

[amerynth · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"Where Angels Fear to Tread" is E.M. Forster's first novel and it shows. It really isn't a bad book -- it just isn't quite up to the standard set by his other, more famous novels.The story starts with Lilia, a young widow who travels to Italy for a year-long break and falls in love with a youthful Italian, much to the dismay of her inlaws. As in his later novels, Forster skewers the class system and the exportation of the British way of life, just not has effectively as he does in his later works.Forster's writing is great, but the story doesn't really gel in the end... the ending seemed a bit forced. I might have enjoyed this one more if I wasn't familiar with his later works.

[laugal-2 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I read this book half way thru and gave up. Although I liked the storyline,I just had no empathy for the characters. I like E.M. Forster but this is not my favorite.

[cariola_6 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

While this novel won't be among my favorite of Forster's, I did appreciate it as a precursor to such masterpieces as A Room wiht a View, Howard's End and A Passage to India. Widow Lilia Herriton, aged 33, decides to spend a year in Italy with a female companion, leaving her young daughter with her mother-in-law. When the family learns that she has become engaged to a younger Italian--the son of a dentist, God forbid!--Philip Herriton is hustled off to persuade her to return. Alas, he is too late; the couple is already married, and passion seems to have prevailed over middle-class British stodginess and propriety. Sadly, things don't work out well for Lilia, as her romantic ideals don't mesh with the reality of Italian married life. After she dies in childbirth, Philip is sent on a second mission: to 'rescue' Lilia's child and bring it back into the fold of British respectability.It's at this point that the novel falls into a hazy category where I would also place Chekhov's play The Seagull. Is it comedy, tragedy, or melodrama? Or perhaps a combination of all three? While generally categorized as comedies (most likely because of their sharp social critiques), characters in both works endure some truly tragic events--and respond quite melodramatically. This fuzziness of genre doesn't really detract from either the play or the novel but does leave one wondering what the author's original intention might have been, and whether he might have gone a bit off track.So my recommendation is: If you've never read Forster before, don't start here; but if you have, Where Angels Fear to Tread is worth adding to your TBR shelf.

[lkernagh · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I should start off this review by mentioning, for those who don’t know, that [Where Angels Fear to Tread] is E. M. Forster’s first novel. When it was published, Forster was only 26 years old. I find that to be an accomplishment in itself. What is more difficult for me to communicate are my thoughts regarding this one. I tend to be a fan of books that tackle meaty topics of divisions caused by class structure, societal norms and mannerisms under the guise of troublesome family scenarios. While I appreciate that Forster takes a lighter hand here – he does not over burden the story with deep philosophical ramblings – I found the lightness of touch gave the story a rather flippant feel, one that overshadows Forester’s attack at the narrow-minded snobbery and cultural insensitivity of the English middle class the story is to portray. I struggled a bit with some of the characters – in particular, Philip, Harriet and Mrs. Herriton. I found Philip’s attraction to Caroline Abbott to be lacking in substance, more like the youthful infatuation of a young collegiate man for an older, more worldly woman. This struck me as a bit odd as I got the impression that Caroline was the younger of the two. Harriet comes across as a little unhinged, even before the tragic events unfold and as for Mrs. Harriton, well, that woman has control issues. Lilia comes across as I would expect for one who faces life with an exuberance that defies being contained. As for the writing, while good, I felt that Forster was still coming into his own as a writer. Not surprising given his youth at the time of writing. Overall, an decent read and I am now curious to watch the movie adaptation with Helen Mirren as Lilia Harriton.

[eadieb-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Book Description
On a journey to Tuscany with her young friend and traveling companion Caroline Abbott, widowed Lilia Herriton falls in love with both Italy and Gino, a handsome Italian much younger than herself, and decides to stay. Furious, her dead husband's family send Lilia's brother-in-law Philip to Italy to prevent a misalliance, but he arrives too late. Lilia had already married the Italian and becomes pregnant again. While giving birth to her son, she dies. The Herritons send Philip again to Italy, this time to save the infant boy from an uncivilized life and to save the family's reputation. Not wanting to be outdone—or considered any less moral or concerned than Caroline for the child's welfare—Lilia's in-laws try to take the lead in traveling to Italy. In the public eye, they make it known that it is both their right and their duty to travel to Monteriano to obtain custody of the infant so that he can be raised as an Englishman. Secretly, though, they have no regard for the child; only public appearances.


My Review
his book was an insightful exploration of cultural differences set within a small village in Tuscany. I mostly enjoyed the description of the countryside and village of Monteriano. E. M. Forster has a great gift of storyteller and this is very evident in the story. The two main characters are very likable but their fate was a little depressing and not necessarily the happy ending I would have liked. I do recommend reading this as the writing is very compelling.

[hscherry · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Slow starting, but eventually got into it & quite enjoyed it in the end. A little unbelievable, but quite sweet.

[gypsysmom_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

On the back cover this book is called a "sophisticated comedy" so I expected something witty something like Noel Coward's Private Lives. It wasn't even close to what I expected. Yes, there were some funny parts but, on the whole, I found it rather gruesome. Without spoiling the end for another reader I can't specify why I didn't like it. I found a scholarly review of the book which you can read if you don't mind having the end spoiled.Forster is quite savage about the middle class English and their pretensions and that seems to be the point of this book. Lilia, youngish widow of Charles Herriton, decides to travel in Italy with a companion for a year. While in the small city of Monteriano she falls in love with a handsome, unemployed Italian and they get engaged. When the Herritons hear this news her brother-in-law, Phillip, is sent off to prevent the marriage. However, he is too late and the marriage has already taken place. Lilia lives to regret her hasty marriage to Gino who carries on his life as he had before he was married, spending most of his time away from the marital home, but forbidding Lilia to go out unaccompanied. Then Lilia discovers he has had an affair and when Gino gets angry that she went out of the house she "saw him for a cruel, worthless, hypocritical, dissolute upstart" (p. 82) She responds by telling him she knows about the affair. Gino doesn't deny it; instead he laughs and realizes he must give her more credit than he has been. He thinks he can gloss everything over with a little more attention but Lilia will not be placated so easily. Lilia writes to a male friend in England to ask him to rescue her but Gino intercepts the letter. Lilia becomes pregnant and dies in childbirth.That's one of the main problems I have with this book. Lilia is independently wealthy; she knows how to get out of Monteriano; even if she didn't want to return to her in-laws she has her own mother's place in Yorkshire. It just doesn't seem likely to me that she would meekly sit around Monteriano when she is miserable.As a study of the contrasts between the staid English and the passionate Italians this book is probably a masterpiece. No doubt it shook people up when it was first published. Now, however, it seems dated.

[soylentgreen23 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Forster was a young man when he wrote this, his first novel, and yet it turned out to be a remarkably mature piece of fiction, examining as it does the battle of class consciences that was a common feature of British society of his day. His descriptions of the Italian countryside and its people are witty as well as vivid, and much better than so many others that I have read.

[murraymint11 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A quick read. Full of unlikeable characters, I never really got into the book. Descriptions of Italy were very familiar though :)

[ctpress_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I loved Room With a View and Howards End. My expectations were high but the book did not come close to the other two masterpieces. There were no persons to like in this tale - it left me cold and indifferent - couldn't wait for the italien wailing and the english prudishness to end.

[li33ieg · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I can't believe how long it took me to discover EM Foster! Having done so, I've gotten through more or less his complete works in less than six months and am recommending him to my daughter who, at the age of 16, seems to me ready to take on more adult reading but struggles a bit with certain 'classics' where the themes appear inaccessible to one so young.Forster looks at how human society operates to support certain individuals it collectively approves of and to correct (if it doesn't go so far as to bring down) those it disapproves of.As relevent today as ever he was.

[imbookingit · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

There is a reason this is his least known work-- not very memorable.

[wrmjr66 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This slim volume shows Forster's typical concerns with English society values when placed in awkward situations. However, the characters are thin representations of types rather than fully drawn, and this detracts greatly from the book's success. The villain (if there is one) is scarcely portrayed at all. The hero (again, a debatable term) seems inconstant to an extreme, while the important minor characters have almost no personality. Perhaps the prefix to his title, "Fools rush in," is meant to characterize all of the people in the novel, but I don't think that is quite accurate either. Fortunately, the book has its beautifully written sections and some nice social satire. Still, the novel is nowhere near Forster's best. If you love his other work, you may like this novel, but if you are looking for an introduction, turn to A Passage to India or Howard's End instead.

[laudemgloriae · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Forster is my favorite novelist, and I can not articulate how much I love this book. It is stunning how he expresses the need of his characters for each other, and their fear of needing eachother... that they are 'angels' who 'fear to tread' amongst each other... It's timeless.

[alliew_24 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

If you have ever felt frustrated by the petty vagaries of human behaviour, or the idiocy of certain societal taboos or customs, then you will warm to Forster's theme at once. In a mere 142 pages, he deftly exposes the class-ridden snobbery of the English society of his time, and the racism with which it appears to be inevitably coupled - a product, no doubt of the colonialism and imperialism from which we have yet, still, to recover. That this stains the beauty of quintessential Englishness is perhaps one reason for Forster's love-hate relationship for England and the fact that he spent so much of his time abroad (the taboo which he struggled with, and felt persecuted for, being his homosexuality). The novel is a wonderful evocation of the minutiae of family bickering and arguments which are still relevant and highly recognisable today. (The bullying mother and slightly too weak, compliant son, for example). Analysis of the way that society represses the individual and the conflict between what you want to do and what society expects of you was to become a recurring theme in his novels.His title is taken from Pope's 'An Essay on criticism' (1711), where the full line is `For fools rush in where angels fear to tread'. Indeed, most of the characters who people this perceptive novel appear foolish in the extreme, especially to our early twenty-first century eyes. For example, one could consider the headstrong and impulsive Lilia, packed off to Italy for a year with a chaperone by her husband's family in the hope that she will return 'not quite so vulgar' one of these rushing fools. Certainly her meeting and marriage of the unemployed (and son of a dentist, shock horror!) Gino within the space of a mere three weeks, in complete disregard for her nine-year old daughter, or first husband's family may be counted foolish, particularly by the standards of the time. Expecially when the tragic outcome of that decision is made clear. Despite her flaws, though, one cannot help but admire her for her courage in rebelling against and challenging the status quo - the status quo which appears to imprison so many in Edwardian English society. However, what about the rest of the cast of this insightful and oh-so-English novel? There is Mrs Herriton Senior, for a start. A woman so caught up with herself and the requirements of 'society' that she sends her son and daughter off on what may very well be thought of as a fool's errand to collect the child of Lilia's fateful second marriage by whatever means possible - paying Gino off, if necessary. Her evident hypocrisy and cruelty appears to be indicative of that of society as a whole. And they, Philip and Harriet, in their turn, may also be considered foolish, or at the very least weak, when they meekly comply with her requirements. (Although, as they have been under her thumb their whole lives, perhaps it is understandable).This tragic novel (and Forster is a master tragedian) has some happy moments, however. The opera scene is a complete joy and very funny. Here, Caroline helps Philip to discover happiness, and he begins to fall in love with her. Also quite wonderful are Forster's beautiful descriptions of Italy, reflecting his deep love for the country. Indeed, as Oliver Stallybrass points out in his informative introduction, this book is, in part, based on his own trip to Milan. The line 'it was an irritable couple who took tickets to Monteriano' is almost an exact replica of one from Forster's journal, where the destination was, instead, Milan, and where it had been preceded by an equally unfortunate and tiresome catelogue of events. Perhaps, therefore, there is something of Edward Morgan Forster in the character of Philip, who, although weak and equally tainted by his family's snobbery, one cannot help but like. (Indeed, he lost his father when very young, and was likewise brought up in the world of women). Sadly, Harriet's impatience brings about the sorrowful end to this poignant novel - and all are left to think on its meaning.All in all, this novel embodies the description of Forster's work made on the Forster questionnaire webpage 'concise, but rich'. Taste and see!

[faith42love · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I had a difficult time liking this book. I enjoyed the plot and there was plenty of surprises as the plot unraveled but there was a lot of unnecessary fluff and filler. I honestly love to read descriptions of places or people but I felt like Forester was repetitive in a way that did not add anything to the meaning of the book. In all honesty it could have been shortened as much as to make it a short story instead of a novel. By the time I knew I hated the book I was already 1/4 of the way through the book and decided I should just finish it.

[sluce_6 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Wanted to read an E. M. Forster book. Enjoyed

[sweetiegherkin · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Young widow Lilia goes off for a holiday to Italy, which irrevocably changes her life as well as the lives of many around her. This is my third book by Forster (although it is one of his earlier ones I believe), and I continue to enjoy his works. His writing style is very accessible, yet contains deeper meanings and themes. He never takes you where you think the plot is going; rather every chapter brings a new revelation and a re-thinking of what the book is trying to say to the readers. That makes it highly engaging.Unlike with his other books, I could not really like any of the characters here; nevertheless, it was fascinating to see them in action and what would happen next. And, all were well-rounded with motivations that changed over time as needed; in other words, no stock characters here.All in all, this was an engaging read that I think would make for good discussions.