E. M. Forster: A New Life - Hardcover

Wendy Moffat

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0747598436 ISBN 13: 9780747598435

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 2010

Synopsis

One of the great mysteries in the life of E. M. Forster (1879-1970) is why, after the publication of "A Passage to India" in 1924, he never published another novel although he lived to be 90. In Wendy Moffat's biography, based on a lifetime's dedication to her subject, we gain extraordinary insights into a man with a gift for writing fiction of great humanity, warmth and humour, who realised early that the society of his time would not allow him to publish the fiction he really wanted to write. At the end of "A Passage to India", his readers were left with the melancholy sight of Aziz and Fielding, friends of different races and cultures, riding out of the novel down separate paths. In real life, although frustrated at not being able to write out of his true self - it would not be until after his death that Maurice, his novel of a homosexual affair, would be published - E. M. Forster led a full and energetic life. He was a successful broadcaster, a brilliant essayist ("Abinger Harvest" and "Two Cheers for Democracy" are still must-reads) and a leading figure in Europe's intellectual life. Moffat argues that with his support for colleagues from Lowes Dickinson and Radclyffe Hall to Christopher Isherwood and Benjamin Britten, and his quiet championing of humanistic values, he helped create the more tolerant world we now enjoy. Moffat's achievement is not to show that Forster was homosexual (this is well known) but how deeply his ideas on individual freedom, tolerance, sexuality and love, permeated every act and aspect of his life.

About this title

Product Description:

One of the mysteries of EM Forster's life is why, after the appearance of A Passage to India in 1924, he never published another novel, despite living to be 90. Based on new interviews and access to Forster's previously restricted diaries, this sensitive biography shows how deeply his ideas on individual freedom, love and sexuality permeated his subsequent career as an essayist, broadcaster and public intellectual, and how they have shaped the more tolerant society we enjoy today.

Review:

'superbly illuminating biography' -- The Telgraph, June 5th 2010

'Moffat isn't gossipy or reductive - the Forster who emerges from her work is a more human and satisfying figure then we've known' -- Time magazine, June 14th 2010

'Wendy Moffat...a fluent writer, and at the many points where it would have been easier to simplify or judge, she displays a Forsterish combination of equanimity and magnanimity.' --New Statesman, June 7th 2010

This is an exemplary biography, its elegance and humour successfully concealing its erudition. It is the story of a pilgrimage towards humanity.' --The Times, June 15th 2010

'a rich, well-honed biography, filled with vivid character sketches, and convincing concerning Forster's inner struggle.' --Book of the Week, Independent, June 18th 2010

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0747598436
• ISBN 13: 9780747598435
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 416