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The differences between Howard's End and On Beauty are numerous.  While initially I was annoyed with Smith's calling her novel a hommage to Forster, as I read on, I began to understand that this was not the plot copy I initially thought it to be.  She is applying the timeless themes from Howard's End and applying them to the modern era.  Smith's novel appears to me, to be much more complex than Forster's.  This is not to say that Smith is not more clever, but rather, that our modern society contains many more conflicts than the society in which Forster's novel was written.  While Forster's novel deals mostly with social classes, perhaps just touching on the issues of gender and nationality, Smith goes in depth with these themes and more, especially race.

Another one of the more interesting themes I found in Smith's novel was the role of religion.  It is a common question, "what role does religion play in today's society?".  It is not an easy question to answer.  The article above makes a good point, in a nation where almost anything is possible, is it logical to believe in God?   While Howard refuses to change his ways, he is staunchly against religion throughout the novel, mocking it as well as becoming angry toward it.  But if it is as hindering as some believe it to be, where is Howard's actions coming from?

 Still thinking..