Watch the First Trailer for 'Howards End', Your New TV Obsession

In the two years since Downton Abbey's been off the air, we've had our fill of must-watch period pieces with the likes of The White Princess (opens in new tab), Victoria and The Crown providing escapism into the 15th, 19th and mid-20th centuries. But none of these series returned us to the Crawley's fascinating, complicated world of Edwardian England, where society grappled with the collision of traditional social conventions and the advance of modernity.

Enter Howards End, a four-part miniseries based on the 1910 novel by E.M. Forster headed to Starz in 2018. It follows the brilliant, strong-willed Schlegel sisters—"independent" Margaret (Hayley Atwell) and quirky Helen (Philippa Coulthard)—as their lives intersect with the wealthy Wilcoxes, Henry (Matthew Macfadyen) and Ruth (Julia Ormond), and the poverty-stricken Basts, Leonard (Joseph Quinn) and Jacky (Rosalind Eleazar).

The trailer chronicles Margaret's growing friendship with Ruth until the latter's unexpected death. When Ruth's family discovers she left her beloved country home, Howards End, to Margaret, they're horrified the house will end up in the hands of an "outsider." But as Ruth's grieving widower, Henry, finds himself drawn Margaret and the two grow closer, Helen attempts to provide aid to the poverty-stricken Leonard, resulting in a clash over power and privilege between the sisters. In the midst of the drama, Margaret and Helen's traditional Aunt Juley (Tracey Ullman) attempts to instill proper values in her orphaned nieces and their brother, Tibby (Alex Lawther).

The series is directed by White Girl (opens in new tab) director Hettie Macdonald and written by Kenneth Lonergan, the Oscar-winning writer and director of Manchester by the Sea (opens in new tab).

Buy Howards End by E.M. Forster, $1 for Kindle. BUY IT (opens in new tab)