A Room with a View portrays the love of a British woman for an expatriate living in Italy, a country which to Forster represents the forces of true passion. Caught up in a world of social snobbery, Forster's heroine, Lucy Honeychurch, finds herself constrained by the claustrophobic influence of her British guardians, who encourage her to take up with a well-connected boor. When she regrets that her hotel room has no view, a member of the lower class offers to trade rooms with her. Lucy becomes caught in a struggle between her own emotions and social conventions. In the end, however, Lucy takes control of her own fate and finds love with a man whose free spirit reminds her of a "room with a view".

There are some writers whose work is especially suitable for reading aloud, and E.M. Forster is one. His voices enter the ear with such a delicate balance of force and refinement that listeners are immediately enchanted.