This edition published 7th November 2024 by Sceptre. Originally published 1971 (written in 1914).
From the cover of the book:
Maurice Hall grows up in comfort and privilege near London, in a villa surrounded by pines, where all is convenience and ease. He progresses through a traditional English education, projecting an outer confidence that masks troubling questions about his unspoken desires.
At Cambridge University, Maurice meets Clive, an assured older student, with whom he enjoys a close and intense relationship. Sneaking around college, climbing through windows and skipping lectures, Maurice begins to grasp a less conventional view of the nature of love. And then, on a trip to Clive's family estate, he meets Alec, the gamekeeper, and his emotional and sexual awakening reaches its height, opening up the possibility of a life that strays from the path he was raised to follow. But can Maurice overcome societal pressures, self-doubt and heartbreak to find happiness?
Forster completed Maurice in 1914 but felt that it could not be published in his lifetime. It was not until 1971, the year after Forster's death, that the novel was finally published.
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Maurice Hall is born into a life of upper middle-class privilege near London, with a doting mother and two younger sisters. Expected to continue the family traditions of his late father, he progresses from minor public school to Cambridge, where he embarks on an intense friendship with fellow student, Clive.
Maurice comes to realise that his previously confused feelings about sexual relationships reveal he has an unconventional view of love. His friendship with Clive develops into a relationship. Until Clive decides he wants to marry, and turns away from his former companion.
Heartbroken, Maurice seeks to 'cure' himself of his desires, but during an awkward visit to Clive and his new wife, he meets and falls for their gamekeeper, Alec. The emotional and sexual awakening this brings forces Maurice to make a decision about his future in the face of societal pressure and his own self-doubt.
This daring novel of homosexual love was written by Forster between 1913 and 1914, inspired by his admiration for early gay rights activist, Edward Carpenter who had a happy cross-class relationship with a male partner. It was only published following Forster's death in 1970, owing to public (and legal) attitudes to homosexuality - and the fact it would have revealed too much about his own sexual orientation. Interestingly, there is also an alleged link with Lady Chatterley's Lover, which led me to reading this one, as it is rumoured Maurice's relationship with Alec inspired D.H. Lawrence to write the love story between Lady Constance and Oliver Mellors.
The novel is beautifully written. Largely told from the perspective of Maurice, with occasional contributions from Clive, the story draws you in completely. There is little in the way of Forster's wit beyond the first part of the novel, but there is an over-arching, highly emotionally-charged dimension to Maurice's struggles as "an unspeakable of the Oscar Wilde sort" given Forster's own sexual leanings.
I found it a tender and fascinating read that reveals a lot about the time and place in which it is set. There is some harping on about religion and the classics, especially during the Cambridge years, but they are mostly relevant to the story. And it is a story that captures you, especially theway Forster writes about coming of age; longing; snatched moments of intimacy; the fear of discovery; and the need for gay men to live outside the bounds of society.
This edition also includes a must-read introduction from Colm Toibin, which sent me down a rabbit hole about the Oscar Wilde trial and how it highlighted the visibility of homosexual men in society.
If audio books are your bag, the Audible Originals production voiced by Peter Firth is absolutely worth your time too.
Maurice is available to buy now in multiple formats.
About the author:
Edward Morgan Forster was born in London in 1879, attended Tonbridge School and went on to King's College, Cambridge in 1897, where he retained a lifelong connection and was elected to an Honorary Fellowship in 1946.
He died in June 1970.
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