Catalog of an exhibition held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, April 5-July 4, 2011.

Salvador Dalí once asked room service at Le Meurice in Paris to send him up a flock of sheep. When they were brought to his room he pulled out a gun and fired blanks at them. George Bernard Shaw tried to learn the tango at Reid's Palace in Madeira, and the details of India's independence were worked out in the ballroom of the Imperial Hotel, Delhi. The world's grandest hotels have provided glamorous backgrounds for some of the most momentous – and most bizarre – events in history. Adrian Mourby is a distinguished hotel historian and travel journalist – and a lover of great hotels. Here he tells the stories of 50 of the world's most magnificent, among them the Adlon in Berlin, the Hotel de Russie in Rome, the Continental in Saigon, Raffles in Singapore, the Dorchester in London, Pera Palace in Istanbul and New York's Plaza, as well as some lesser known grand hotels like the Bristol in Warsaw, the Londra Palace in Venice and the Midland in Morecambe Bay. All human life is to be found in a great hotel, only in a more entertaining form.

In tracing the individual struggles encountered by each single diarist, Lombardi presents, as a result of the juxtaposition of so many different texts, a wider portrayal of women's struggles across five decades and four different national cultures."--BOOK JACKET.

How would it feel to go overnight from living in a trailer park to a twelve-room apartment overlooking Central Park in a landmark Victorian building? This is what happens to housecleaner Tina Finn, who, with her sisters, Alison and Lucy, suddenly comes into possession of the Livingston Mansion Apartment at the Edgewood. The Finn sisters inherit the $11 million property from their estranged alcoholic mother, but they aren’t the only siblings vying for it. Their mother’s wealthy second husband, Bill—who died just three weeks before Tina’s mother—has two sons. And they are furious at the thought of losing the apartment that’s been in their family for generations. Tina moves into the nearly vacant, palatial space to solidify her claim to it, but she soon discovers that Bill’s sons aren’t the only ones who want her out. The building’s other residents are none too pleased by her presence either. In fact, the co-op board has designs on wresting control of the apartment from both sets of children. As Tina fends off all the people who want to evict her (or worse), she starts to get involved in her neighbors’ complex lives. There’s the mercurial, eccentric botanist who may be either a friend or an enemy; the self-absorbed, randy son of the co-op board president, whose friendship without benefits Tina tries to curry; the large, chaotic family whose depressed teenage daughter becomes Tina’s ally and spy; the ghost Tina hears crying at night in her apartment’s secret room . . . In this entertaining yarn by acclaimed playwright, screenwriter, and author Theresa Rebeck, we follow Tina Finn—a woman both comical and compelling, well intentioned and a bit of a thief—as she begins to love her new home, discovers traits to admire in people she’s only just met, and realizes, finally, her place in her family and the world.

Set in early 1900s Italy and England, A Room with a View offers a humorous critique of Edwardian-era society. The novel begins in Florence, Italy, where Miss Lucy Honeychurch, who is chaperoned by her spinster cousin Miss Charlotte Bartlett, arrive at the Pensione Bertolini to find that instead of rooms with a view of the Arno, as promised, theirs face a drab courtyard. Another guest spontaneously offers to swap the rooms that he and his son have to remedy their distress. Thus ensues an unlikely acquaintance and a series of unforeseen, if not fateful, events that upend the lives of the eccentric cast of characters who vividly animate this enduring and delightful tale. Widely recognized as one of the finest novels of the twentieth century, A Room with a View is one of Forster’s most celebrated works.

This Edwardian social comedy explores love and prim propriety among an eccentric cast of characters assembled in an Italian pensione and in a corner of Surrey, England. A charming young Englishwoman, Lucy Honeychurch, faints into the arms of a fellow Britisher when she witnesses a murder in a Florentine piazza. Attracted to this man, George Emerson, who is entirely unsuitable and whose father just may be a Socialist, Lucy is soon at war with the snobbery of her class and her own conflicting desires. Back in England, she is courted by a more acceptable, if stifling, suitor and soon realizes she must make a startling decision that will decide the course of her future: she is forced to choose between convention and passion.

Featuring an appendix of discussion questions, the Diversion Classics edition is ideal for use in book groups and classrooms. Lucy Honeychurch journeys from England to Italy on holiday hoping to broaden her world, but it’s not the beauty of Florence that she falls in love with. No, trapped in a hotel populated by nothing but fellow Britons, it’s hard for Lucy to experience Italy at all. To make matters worse, the room with the view she was promised isn’t available. Overhearing her dismay, a father and son duo offer to switch rooms with her. It is a generous gesture met with revulsion from Lucy’s suffocating chaperone, for to accept would put them in a compromising position and be a major social gaffe. Touched by the kindness of it and for the first time in her life questioning the barriers of her social standing, Lucy develops a fondness for the two uncouth gentlemen. In fact, George Emerson, younger of the two, might be the only spot of joy Lucy has in Florence. No sooner does Lucy find herself falling for George, who values her mind and spirit, when she is whisked away to Rome. There, she meets Cecil Vyse who, though domineering, pompous, and snide, matches her social standing and proposes. Lucy, thinking she is making the most practical choice, is ready to settle for Cecil. But when George moves closer to her and confesses his true feelings, Lucy must choose between her true desires and that which she was taught was best her entire life. For more classic titles like this, visit www.diversionbooks.com/ebooks/diversion-classics

Enable students to achieve their best grade in AS/A-level English Literature with this year-round course companion; designed to instil in-depth textual understanding as students read, analyse and revise A Room with a View throughout the course. This Study and Revise guide: - Increases students' knowledge of A Room with a View as they progress through the detailed commentary and contextual information written by experienced teachers and examiners - Develops understanding of characterisation, themes, form, structure and language, equipping students with a rich bank of textual examples to enhance their coursework and exam responses - Builds critical and analytical skills through challenging, thought-provoking questions and tasks that encourage students to form their own personal responses to the text - Extends learning and prepares students for higher-level study by introducing critical viewpoints, comparative references to other literary works and suggestions for independent research - Helps students maximise their exam potential using clear explanations of the Assessment Objectives, sample student answers and examiner insights - Improves students' extended writing techniques through targeted advice on planning and structuring a successful essay

♥♥A Room with a View by E. M. Forster♥♥ From the author of the Books Like · A Room with a View · Howards End · A Passage to India · Maurice · The Machine Stops · Where Angels Fear to Tread · Aspects of the Novel · A Room with a View / Howards End · The Longest Journey · The Life to Come and Other Stories ♥♥A Room with a View by E. M. Forster♥♥ Glimpse of the Book: “The Signora had no business to do it,” said Miss Bartlett, “no business at all. She promised us south rooms with a view close together, instead of which here are north rooms, looking into a courtyard, and a long way apart. Oh, Lucy!” “And a Cockney, besides!” said Lucy, who had been further saddened by the Signora’s unexpected accent. “It might be London.” She looked at the two rows of English people who were sitting at the table; at the row of white bottles of water and red bottles of wine that ran between the English people; at the portraits of the late Queen and the late Poet Laureate that hung behind the English people, heavily framed; at the notice of the English church (Rev. Cuthbert Eager, M. A. Oxon.), that was the only other decoration of the wall. “Charlotte, don’t you feel, too, that we might be in London? I can hardly believe that all kinds of other things are just outside. I suppose it is one’s being so tired.” ♥♥A Room with a View by E. M. Forster♥♥ About the Author: Edward Morgan Forster, generally published as E.M. Forster, was a novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is known best for his ironic and well-plotted novels examining class difference and hypocrisy in early 20th-century British society. His humanistic impulse toward understanding and sympathy may be aptly summed up in the epigraph to his 1910 novel Howards End: "Only connect". He had five novels published in his lifetime, achieving his greatest success with A Passage to India (1924) which takes as its subject the relationship between East and West, seen through the lens of India in the later days of the British Raj. Forster's views as a secular humanist are at the heart of his work, which often depicts the pursuit of personal connections in spite of the restrictions of contemporary society. He is noted for his use of symbolism as a technique in his novels, and he has been criticised for his attachment to mysticism. His other works include Where Angels Fear to tread (1905), The Longest Journey (1907), A Room with a View (1908) and Maurice (1971), and his posthumously published novel which tells of the coming of age of an explicitly gay male character. ♥♥A Room with a View by E. M. Forster♥♥ Summary of the Book: Lucy Honeychurch, a young upper middle class woman, visits Italy under the charge of her older cousin Charlotte. At their pension, or guesthouse, in Florence, they are given rooms that look into the courtyard rather than out over the river Arno. Mr. Emerson, a fellow guest, generously offers them the rooms belonging to himself and his son George. Although Charlotte is offended by Mr. Emerson's lack of tact and propriety, she finally does agree to the switch. Lucy is an avid young pianist. Mr. Beebe, watches her passionate playing and predicts that someday she will live her life with as much gusto as she plays the piano. Lucy's visit to Italy is marked by several significant encounters with the Emersons. In Santa Croce church, George complains that his father means well, but always offends everyone. Mr. Emerson tells Lucy that his son needs her in order to overcome his youthful melancholy. Later, Lucy is walking in the Piazza Signoria, feeling dull, when she comes in close contact with two quarreling Italian men. One man stabs the other, and she faints, to be rescued by George. On their return trip home, he kisses her, much to her surprise. She keeps his rash behavior a secret. On a country outing in the hills, Lucy wanders in search of Mr. Beebe and the supercilious chaplain, Mr. Eager. However, the Italian cab driver leads her instead to George, who is standing on a terrace covered with blue violets. George sees her and again kisses her, but this time Charlotte sees him and chastises him after they have resurnedreturned to the pension. She leaves with Lucy for Rome the next day. The second half of the book centers on Lucy's home in Surrey, where she lives with her mother, Mrs. Honeychurch, and her brother, Freddy. A man she met in Rome, the snobbish Cecil Vyse, proposes marriage to her for the third time, and she accepts him. He disapproves of her family and the country people she knows, finding them coarse and unsophisticated. There is a small, ugly villa available for rent in the town, and as a joke, Cecil offers it to the Emersons, whom he meets by chance in a museum. They take him up on the offer and move in, much to Lucy's initial horror. George plays tennis with the Honeychurches on a Sunday when Cecil is at his most intolerable. After the game, Cecil reads from a book by Miss Lavish, a woman who also stayed with Lucy and Charlotte at the pension in Florence. The novel records a kiss among violets, and Lucy realizes that Charlotte let the secret out. In a moment alone, George kisses her again. Lucy tells him to leave, but George insists that Cecil is not the right man for her, characterizing Cecil as controlling and appreciative of things rather than people. Lucy sees Cecil in a new light, and breaks off her engagement that night. However, Lucy will not believe that she loves George; she wants to stay unmarried and travel to Greece with some elderly women she met in Italy, the Miss Alans. She meets old Mr. Emerson by chance, who insists that she loves George and should marry him, because it is what her soul truly wants. Lucy realizes he is right, and though she must fly against convention, she marries George, and the book ends with the happy couple staying together in the Florence pension again, in a room with a view. ♥♥A Room with a View by E. M. Forster♥♥

Best of Fiction Classics: A Room with a View/ Pride and Prejudice/ Jane Eyre An Autobiography by E. M. Forster, Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë: A Room with a View by E. M. Forster: In "A Room with a View," E. M. Forster tells the story of Lucy Honeychurch, a young Englishwoman traveling in Italy. The novel explores themes of social conventions, personal freedom, and the clash between the rigid Victorian society and a more liberated worldview. Through its vibrant characters and beautiful descriptions of Italy, the novel offers a compelling and insightful commentary on society and human relationships. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: Jane Austen's beloved novel "Pride and Prejudice" follows the spirited and independent Elizabeth Bennet as she navigates love, societal expectations, and family dynamics. The novel is a witty and humorous exploration of the complexities of human relationships, with Mr. Darcy, the enigmatic and proud gentleman, becoming one of literature's most enduring romantic heroes. Jane Eyre An Autobiography by Charlotte Brontë: "Jane Eyre" is a Gothic romance novel that follows the life of the orphaned and mistreated Jane Eyre. The novel traces her journey from a harsh childhood to her position as a governess and her tumultuous relationship with Mr. Rochester, her employer. With its strong-willed and independent protagonist, "Jane Eyre" challenges traditional gender roles and remains a powerful and timeless classic. This Best of Fiction Classics collection showcases three exceptional works that have left a lasting impact on readers and continue to be celebrated for their enduring themes, compelling characters, and insightful commentary on society and human nature. From the insightful observations of E. M. Forster in "A Room with a View" to the witty social satire of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" and the Gothic romance of Charlotte Brontë's "Jane Eyre," each novel offers a unique and captivating reading experience that has earned its place among the literary classics.