E. M. Forster

"I suggest that the only books that influence us are those for which we are ready, and which have gone a little further down our particular path than we have yet gone ourselves."

Edward Morgan Forster, E.M., was an English novelist, short story writer, and essayist. He is known best for his ironic and well-plotted novels examining class difference and hypocrisy in early 20th-century British society. Forster's humanistic impulse toward understanding and sympathy may be aptly summed up in the epigraph to his 1910 novel Howards End: "Only connect".

Forster was gay, but this fact was not widely made public during his lifetime. His posthumously-published novel Maurice tells of the coming of age of an explicitly gay male character.

What genres did E. M. Forster write in?

Forster wrote novels, short stories and essays. He is best known as an English novelist whose work examines early 20th-century British society.

What are the main themes in Forster's work?

Common themes include class difference, social hypocrisy and the need for human understanding and sympathy. The idea of connection is summed up in the epigraph 'Only connect' from Howards End.