The Forsyte Saga, first published under that title in 1922, is a series of three novels and two interludes published between 1906 and 1921 by the English author John Galsworthy, who won the 1932 Nobel Prize in Literature. They chronicle the vicissitudes of the leading members of a large upper-middle-class English family that is similar to Galsworthy's own. Its members, who are only a few generations removed from their farmer ancestors, are keenly aware of their status as "new money". The main character, the solicitor and connoisseur Soames Forsyte, sees himself as a "man of property" by virtue of his ability to accumulate material possessions, but that status does not succeed in bringing him pleasure. In 2003, The Forsyte Saga was listed as No. 123 in the BBC's The Big Read poll of the UK's "best-loved novel"."BBC – The Big Read". April 2003, retrieved 31 October 2012.
Separate sections of the saga, as well as the lengthy story in its entirety, have been adapted for cinema and television. The Man of Property, the first book, was adapted in 1949 by Hollywood as That Forsyte Woman, starring Errol Flynn, Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon and Robert Young. In 1967, the BBC produced a popular 26-part serial that dramatised The Forsyte Saga and a subsequent trilogy concerning the Forsytes, A Modern Comedy, which starred Eric Porter, Nyree Dawn Porter, and Kenneth More.
In 2002, Granada Television produced two series for the ITV network: The Forsyte Saga and The Forsyte Saga: To Let, starring Damian Lewis, Gina McKee, and Rupert Graves. Both made runs in the US as parts of Masterpiece Theatre. In 2024, a third television adaptation was commissioned by Channel 5 and Masterpiece PBS, starring Joshua Orpin, Millie Gibson, and Danny Griffin. The first series was broadcast in the UK in 2025.
Following The Forsyte Saga, Galsworthy wrote two more trilogies and several more interludes based around the titular family. The resulting series is collectively titled The Forsyte Chronicles.
Text The Man of Property (1906) The first volume opens by introducing us to an array of Forsytes, outlining alliances and rivalries. The story quickly focuses on the unhappy marriage of Soames Forsyte and Irene. (The character of Irene is based upon Galsworthy's wife Ada Galsworthy.) Soames is jealous of Irene's London friendships and independence. To establish his control, he devises a plan to be the first Forsyte to live in a country house. He identifies a property at Robin Hill, which will isolate Irene. He engages Philip Bosinney, an artistically inclined architect, to design the house, manage its construction, and furnish it. Irene falls in love with Bosinney and they begin an affair, although he is affianced to June, the daughter of another Forsyte, one of Soames' cousins. The rivalry between two Forsyte brothers serves as a counterpoint to the main plot, with James, father of Soames, heading one line and Old Jolyon, grandfather of June the other. Old Jolyon has suffered for years by acceding to the other Forsytes in ostracizing his son Young Jolyon, for deserting his wife years ago. He now decides to rewrite his will and recognize his son as his heir. Irene, though without means of support, deserts Soames just as he wins his lawsuit against Bosinney, bankrupting him. Bosinney, distraught and desperate, dies in a bus accident on a foggy night, as June persuades her grandfather to buy the Robin Hill house so he can live there with his son's family.
"Indian Summer of a Forsyte" (1918) Old Jolyon enjoys an idyllic summer at Robin Hill with his younger grandchildren while his son Young Jolyon tours Spain with his wife and daughter June. He happens upon Irene, who visits the property to evoke memories of her time there with Bosinney. She visits several times and Old Jolyon visits her in Chelsea and takes her to dinner and the opera. He meditates upon his life's achievements and struggles with the onset of old age. He modifies his will to include a bequest for Irene, with Young Jolyon as trustee. Old Jolyon dies under the ancient oak in the garden of the Robin Hill.
In Chancery (1920)
The marital discord of both Soames and his sister Winifred is the subject of the second novel (the title refers to the Court of Chancery, which dealt with domestic issues). They take steps to divorce their spouses, Irene and Montague Dartie respectively. While Soames tells his sister to brave the consequences of going to court, he is unwilling to go through a divorce. Instead he stalks and hounds Irene, follows her abroad, and asks her to have his child, which was his father's wish.
Irene inherits £15,000 after Old Jolyon's death. His son, Young Jolyon, also Soames's cousin, manages Irene's finances. When she first leaves Soames, Young Jolyon offers his support. By the time his son Jolly dies in the South African War, Irene has developed a strong friendship with Jolyon. Soames then confronts Young Jolyon and Irene at Robin Hill, falsely accusing them of having an affair. Young Jolyon and Irene assert that they have had an affair because Soames has it in his mind already. This statement gives Soames the evidence he needs for divorce proceedings. That confrontation sparks a consummation between young Jolyon and Irene, leading to their marriage once the divorce is final and the birth of a son Jolyon "Jon" Forsyte. Soames marries Annette, the young daughter of a French restaurant owner. With his new wife, he has his only child, a daughter they name Fleur.
"Awakening" (1920) This second interlude explores the naive and exuberant lifestyle of eight-year-old Jon Forsyte. He loves and is loved by his parents. He has an idyllic youth, and his every desire is indulged. This interlude serves as a demonstration of Jon's devotion to his mother when it comes to the decision he must make in To Let.
To Let (1921) This novel concludes the Forsyte Saga. Second cousins Fleur and Jon Forsyte meet and fall in love, ignorant of their parents' past troubles, indiscretions and misdeeds. Once Soames, Jolyon, and Irene discover their romance, they forbid their children to see each other again. Irene and Jolyon also fear that Fleur is too much like her father, and once she has Jon in her grasp, will want to possess him entirely. Despite her feelings for Jon, Fleur has a very suitable suitor, Michael Mont – heir to a baronetcy – who has fallen in love with her. If they marry, Fleur would elevate the status of her family from nouveau riche to the aristocratic upper-class. The title derives from Soames' reflections as he breaks up the house in which his Uncle Timothy – recently deceased in 1920 at the age of 101 and the last of the older generation of Forsytes – had lived a recluse, hoarding his life like property.
Knowing he is soon to die from a weak heart, Jolyon writes a letter to Jon, detailing the events of Irene's marriage to Soames, including her love affair with Philip Bosinney and Soames' rape of her and warns him that Irene would be alone if he were to marry Fleur. But while Jon reads the letter, Jolyon suddenly dies of a heart attack, and Jon is left torn between the past and his present love for Fleur. Soames comes to visit Irene to discuss the potential engagement between his daughter and her son and she declares it to be Jon's decision to make. Before leaving, he offers to shake her hand to put the past behind them but she does not respond. Jon witnesses the almost-catatonic state of fear that Fleur's father still puts his mother into and he ultimately rejects Fleur, breaking his own heart as well as hers, and leaves for Canada. Fleur marries Michael Mont, though she does not love him. With her marriage, Soames is separated from the only person whom he has truly loved. Irene later follows Jon to Canada, selling the house at Robin Hill.
Adaptations
Twentieth century Silent films The book was filmed in 1920 but the film reels have since been lost and there is no known way of watching this version. There was also a silent film adaptation of The White Monkey made in 1925.
1949 movie
A 1949 adaptation, called That Forsyte Woman in its United States release, starred Errol Flynn as Soames, Greer Garson as Irene, Walter Pidgeon as Young Jolyon, and Robert Young as Philip Bosinney. This adaptation took major liberties with the source material to centre on Irene and the men who fell in love with her. It was very poorly received as an adaptation and has since been overshadowed by the BBC and ITV adaptations that came in the 1960s and 2000s.
1967 serial
A television adaptation by the BBC of The Forsyte Saga, and its sequel trilogy A Modern Comedy, starred Eric Porter as Soames, Joseph O'Conor as Old Jolyon, Susan Hampshire as Fleur, Kenneth More as Young Jolyon and Nyree Dawn Porter as Irene. It was produced by Donald Wilson and was shown in 26 episodes on Saturday evenings between 7 January and 1 July 1967 on BBC2. It was the repeat on Sunday evenings on BBC1 starting on 8 September 1968 that secured the programme's success, with 18 million tuning in for the final episode in 1969. It was shown in the United States on public television and broadcast all over the world, and became the first British television programme to be sold to the Soviet Union.
Radio adaptations There have been various BBC radio dramatisations. Probably the earliest was a radio production of The Man of Property in 11 weekly parts, commencing on 9 December 1945 on the BBC Home Service. The music used as the opening and closing theme came from Edward Elgar's Enigma Variations, specifically the Nimrod variation. This adaptation starred Leo Genn as Jo, Grizelda Hervey as Irene and Ronald Simpson as Soames. It was adapted by Muriel Levy and produced by Val Gielgud and Felix Felton. Young Jolyons in later adaptations included Andrew Cruickshank, Leo Genn and Guy Rolfe. Another production of the dramatised cycle, which had Rachel Gurney as Irene, Noel Johnson as Young Jolyon and Alan Wheatley as Soames, came soon after the 1967 television series. The version broadcast in 1990 comprised a 75-minute opening episode followed by 22 hour-long episodes, entitled The Forsyte Chronicles. It was the most expensive radio drama serial ever broadcast, due to its length and its big-name cast, which included Dirk Bogarde, Diana Quick, Michael Williams and Alan Howard. This radio series was rerun on BBC 7 radio in 2004, and has been released commercially.
Twenty-first century The Forsyte Saga (2002 miniseries)
In 2002, the first two books and the first interlude were adapted by Granada Television for the ITV network, although, like the 1967 production, the miniseries took many liberties with Galsworthy's original work. Additional funding for this production was provided by American PBS station WGBH, as a result of the BBC version having been a success on PBS in the early 1970s.
The Forsyte Saga: To Let (2003 serial)
Immediately following the success of the 2002 adaptation, a second series was released in 2003. It portrays the saga's last book To Let. Much of the cast resumed their roles, but most of the first generation of Forsytes had died in the previous series. The principal characters played by Damian Lewis, Gina McKee, Rupert Graves, and Amanda Root return. The series has also been released on DVD.
The Forsytes (2016-17 radio series) In January 2016, BBC Radio 4 began broadcasting a new radio adaptation by Shaun McKenna and Lin Coghlan under the title The Forsytes, broken into four parts. The cast was led by Joseph Millson as Soames, Jessica Raine as Fleur, Juliet Aubrey as Irene, Harry Haddon Paton as Bosinney and Ewan Bailey as Young Jolyon. It was directed by Marion Nancarrow and Gemma Jenkins.