The Man of Property, the first novel in Galsworthy’s epic social satire The Forsyte Saga, introduces us to Soames Forsyte, a solicitor and prominent man of his important family. Accustomed to getting whatever he wants, he sets his sights with absolute determination on the beautiful Irene, in spite of her pennilessness and her indifference to him. Irene, a lover of art and beauty, eventually accepts his marriage proposal over a life of degraded poverty, but she swears to Soames that she will never be his property. When all his money fails to make up for the absence of love and Irene falls for a young architect, Soames resolves to force the obedience he could not buy.

John Galsworthy (1867-1933), English novelist and playwright, went to Oxford to study law, but turned to literature after he met Joseph Conrad on a voyage. The Man of Property (1906), the first of the novels that became The Forsyte Saga, established his reputation. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1932.