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Howards End is the story of the liberal Schlegel sisters and their struggle to come to terms with social class and their German heritage in Edwardian England. Their lives are intertwined with those of the wealthy and pragmatic Wilcox family and their country house, Howards End, as well as the lower-middle-class Basts.

When Helen Schlegel and Paul Wilcox's brief romance ends badly the Schlegels hope to never see the Wilcoxes again. However, the family moves from their country estate, Howards End, to a flat across the road from them. When Helen befriends Leonard Bast, a man of lower status, the political and cultural differences between the families are exacerbated and brought to a fatal confrontation at Howard's End.

Considered by some to be Forster's masterpiece it is a story about social conventions, codes of conduct, and personal relationships in turn-of-the-century England.

In 1998, Howards End ranked 38th on the Modern Library's list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.

Narrator Biography

Actor, writer and artist Edward Petherbridge has long been praised for his tragic and comic roles throughout his long career with the Royal Shakespeare Company and Royal National Theatre. He has won the Olivier and London Theatre Critic's Awards and has twice been nominated for a Tony Award. His major roles on stage have included his memorable performance of Newman Noggs in Nicholas Nickleby and Malvolio in Twelfth Night. He has also performed in stage musicals such as The Woman in White and the musical version of The Importance of Being Earnest. His onscreen career has included roles on television in The Brief (2004), Midsomer Murders (2007), Land Girls (2011), Doctors (2012) and The Borgias (2011) and in films such as The Statement (2003) and Pope Joan (2009). He has narrated E. M. Forster's Where Angels Fear to Tread and Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray audiobooks.