He Predicted Zoom in 1909 and Hid a Gay Novel for 56 Years

Added: 2026-05-27

[00:00:00]In 1909, an English novelist published a short story about a future where humanity lives alone in tiny rooms underground, communicating only through screens, never touching, never meeting in person. Four years later, he wrote a novel about a love affair between two men. He kept that one hidden for 56 years because homosexuality was illegal in England until 1967.

[00:00:25]That writer was EM Forster. Both books were the work of a man living a hidden life. He died in 1970 and the novel he had hidden, Maurice, was published the next year. The 1987 Merchant Ivory film adaptation gave Hugh Grant his breakout role. Today, Forster's 1909 prediction of life behind screens reads like every COVID lockdown account. and his secret love story, Moraurice, is a forerunner to a generation of openly queer mainstream stories.