Room With A View. 2

Lucy gets married. On the verge of engagement myself, I read this book, finally, in a new light. My parents love my boyfriend. They love everything about him. Except for the fact that they think he is going to take me away to Germany, his home country, never to return me to my 'home', Texas. His culture has permeated mine and mine, his. I see this very much like the dilemma Lucy faces, as she struggles with the problem of which man to marry (what drama!) and which to kick to the curb. She sees Cecil, the 'sure thing', as someone of her equal, perhaps even a step up, someone who can give her what she wants, and more important, what she is used to. Marrying him would cause no stir in social circles nor would it cause as many whispers in drawing rooms. However, with George, a man not of her equal, from another class which might as well make him as different as a German and a Texan, Lucy must then worry about her status of life from here on out. What will change? Will George take her off to some far off land where she speaks very little of the language, where her vegetarian self will never again see a plate without having to psyche herself out before eating? Or is a life with fire and passion, reckless abandon, is that the life Lucy wants below her Victorian frill and lace? Lucy must face the waves that come with either side: a life without passion and love or a life without respectability and 'the finer things'?

Room With A View.1

Being a Forester nerd myself, I have to admit that this book always leaves me contemplating the rules and regulations of high society. Is it really ok to take the Emersons' rooms? What exactly is the deal with Baedecker? The character of Lucy has always been an interesting place to start, in my brain, as she is stuck between what she wants and where she should be, what is it right and proper for her to do. I think that the biggest moment, the biggest chance for change, and yet, somehow always the biggest letdown, for me, no matter her change, comes directly from Lucy herself. In every Forester novel there is a big letdown for me, someone who I always have the big hopes for, the character that I see maybe even a bit of myself in perhaps, and the, once again, the big let down. It will be interesting to evaluate this book based purely on itself and in light of its 'quest' or 'building out and growing up' aspects. For now, I will sit back and read A Room With A View, once again, with high hopes for a character who never fails to let me down.