On Beauty is an homage to Howards End by E.M. Forster. In the acknowledgments for On Beauty, Smith says that the book is inspired by Forster as is all her writing. Howards End is a novel about social class and relationships in early 20th century England. Many elements of Howards End are reproduced in On Beauty: a conservative and more liberal family’s contentious interactions, an economically disadvantaged young man meeting the liberal family at a classical music concert, a broken engagement, a friendship between an older and younger woman that leads to the bequest of a cherished possession, and an invitation for a trip that is declined and then accepted but interrupted by the older...
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