'Where Angels Fear to Tread' was another Forster novel to tick off the list for me; I'm beginning an English degree in a year's time and this novel was one I left until last. Foolish.

Woefully, this novel cuts a shabby silhouette against his second, and rightly-lauded Italian novel, 'A Room with a View'. 'Where Angels Fear to Tread' appears as a timid precursor to his 1908 masterpiece: the plot only becomes transparent at the very end; the characters shift between pro- and antagonist; the pages feel heavy until you reach some action late-on in the novel - which came a little too late for my own tastes. I would vehemently discourage a newcomer to Forster to select this book as their initiation into his work; reading 'minor' works by a great writer, I believe, should succeed, and not precede, the accepted 'classics'.

However, this was Forster's first outing with social satire and indeed novel writing, so although I do not rate the novel highly holistically, I admit finding the Horatian satire present in this novel pertinent and pressing. Although having read a wealth of Forster's other novels, I was already wise to the societal jibes that pop up in this novel.

Despite my dour review here, I still stand by E.M. Forster as one of the greatest writers of all time: he is an emissary of light on all aspects of life, and one we can continue learning from for all his insight and wisdom.