Italians are born knowing the way. It would seem that the whole earth lay before them, not as a map, but as a chess-board, whereon they continually behold the changing pieces as well as the squares. Any one can find places, but the finding of people is a gift from God.

Whether we place our trust in Google Maps or our own sense of direction, when we travel to new places, we might get lost along the way. In E. M. Forster’s A Room With a View (1908) Lucy Honeychurch travels from her middle-class English home to Florence, Italy, and tests her sense of direction both in the Italian streets and in her relationships with her fellow travelers. Her cousin and chaperone Charlotte Bartlett chides Lucy about propriety, novelist Eleanore Lavish challenges Lucy to take risks, and Mr. Emerson and his son George Emerson amuse her. The trip takes an unexpected turn when Lucy witnesses a stabbing in the piazza outside her inn. Overwhelmed by what she witnessed, Lucy faints, and George Emerson helps her. While the reader might think that witnessing a murder haunts Lucy as she travels home, but another event follows her. During a visit to overlook Florence, George Emerson kisses Lucy as she walks through a field of lilies.

As propriety, indiscretion, and romance follow Lucy home to England, she learns to speak for herself and that doing so has consequences. Cousin Charlotte, Lucy’s fiancé Cecil, and the bumbling clergyman Mr. Beebe serve as obstacles for Lucy as she comes of age. However, no one seems to hinder Lucy’s independence more than Lucy. She second-guesses and lies to herself. This second-guessing, along with the humorous-yet-aware way in which even the most conceited characters show up create a lighthearted and relatable story. Lucy muddles (a word used often in the novel) her thoughts as she tries to meet expectation. Her confusion is relatable, and the reader will find her choice to shirk expectations satisfying.

However, while the story revolves around Lucy and George’s romance, the characters around them are far more fun. Charlotte Bartlett stands out as she manipulates Lucy by moving her to pity. Charlotte’s may seem laughably pitiful, but the reader learns to see her strategies. Lucy and George’s romance falls short, especially considering that the two central moments of romance center on George kissing Lucy by surprise (which might frustrate the female reader). But the shenanigans of their friends and family make this a joyous read.

E. M. Forster, Vintage (242 pages), October 23, 1989.