Among the greatest novels of the twentieth century, and the basis for director David Lean’s Academy Award-nominated film, A Passage to India turns on a tragic clash of cultures in British India after the turn of the century, at the height of the Indian independence movement. Centering on an ambiguous incident between a young Englishwoman of uncertain stability and an Indian doctor eager to know his conquerors better, Forster’s book explores both the historical chasm between peoples and the eternal one between individuals struggling to ease their isolation and make sense of their humanity.
About the Author
Edward Morgan Forster was born in London in 1879 and attended King’s College, Cambridge, starting in 1897. In his obituary The Times called him ‘one of the most esteemed English novelists of his time’. He wrote six novels, four of which appeared before the First World War, Where Angels Fear to Tread (1905), The Longest Journey (1907), A Room with a View (1908), and Howard’s End (1910). An interval of fourteen years elapsed before he published A Passage to India, which won both the Prix Femina Vie Heureuse and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. Maurice was published posthumously in 1971. Forster also published two volumes of short stories; two collections of essays; a critical work, Aspects of the Novel; The Hill of Devi (a record of two visits to the Indian State of Dewas Senior); two biographies; two books about Alexandria; and, with Eric Crozier, the libretto for Britten’s opera Billy Budd. He died in June 1970.
Praise For…
“A Passage to India is one of the great books of the twentieth century and has had enormous influence. We need its message of tolerance and understanding now more than ever. Forster was years ahead of his time, and we ought to try to catch up with him.” –Margaret Drabble
“The crystal clear portraiture, the delicate conveying of nuances of thought and life, and the astonishing command of his medium show Forster at the height of his powers.” –The New York Times
“[Forster is] a supreme storyteller . . . The novel seems to me more completely ‘achieved’ than anything else he wrote.” –from the new Introduction by P. N. Furbank
