A Room With a View - E. M. Forster - 4 stars

[Linda C]

Young malleable Lucy Honeychurch and her cousin, Charlotte, are visiting Florence, Italy and staying at a Pensione with other British tourists. They have been given rooms overlooking a courtyard rather than the city and the Arno River. A father and his son, George Emerson have the rooms with the view and offer to exchange with them. At first Charlotte sees the Emersons as beneath them, but eventually gives in to the trade. The snobbery and the ranking at the Pensione, along with Charlotte's character leave Lucy unsure about who is acceptable and fighting her feelings for George. When he impulsively kisses her, Charlotte hauls her off to Rome and thrusts her to the attention of boorish, Cecil Vyse. Burying her reaction to George she forces a feeling for Cecil. When she meets up with George back in England, she is forced to truly look at her own feelings and the forces controlling her life and make some decisions.

I found the language a little hard to get into with some of the words having meanings different from the term today. However, about a third of the way through I began to get the flow and the story moved faster. A fine look at the rules of middle-class existence at the start of the 20th century.

[Book Concierge]

That middle section about ruined the book for me. I wound up giving it 3 stars, even though I felt the last five chapters "redeemed" the book.