The Forsyte Chronicles is a series of literary works by English author John Galsworthy. The series chronicles the fortunes of the titular Forsyte family, an upper middle-class clan of significant wealth and privilege, as they adapt to the changing culture and social upheavals of England, starting in the late Victorian era of the 1880's and culminating in the early modern era of 1930's Britain. As the story unfolds, the family, initially characterized by wealth, entitlement, and an aspiration to join the aristocracy, splits into several different branches that arise out of an original group of siblings. As the branches of the family develop, tension and alienation arises between them as a result of diverging social views and personal grievances, and the acrimony and conflict that result from these differences are a large part of the plot of the early novels in particular.
The series is primarily comprised of three separate trilogies (titled The Forsyte Saga, A Modern Comedy, and End of the Chapter, respectively). In addition to these nine novels, there are four short novella "interludes" which link various novels in the first two trilogies. Galsworthy additionally wrote a number of short stories involving various of the older members of the family which he collected and released in a further anthology volume, On Forsyte 'Change. Various of the works in the first two trilogies have been adapted for radio, television, and cinema, starting with silent films in the 1920s and running through a televised mini-series in the 2000s.
The sequence of the works of the Forsyte Chronicles is:
The Forsyte Saga: The Man of Property (novel, 1906) • Indian Summer of a Forsyte (interlude, 1918) • In Chancery (novel, 1920) • Awakening (interlude, 1920) • To Let (novel, 1921) • On Forsyte 'Change (short story collection)
A Modern Comedy: White Monkey • A Silent Wooing • The Silver Spoon • Passers By • Swan Song
End of the Chapter: Maid in waiting • Flowering Wilderness • One More River