George Gissing

New Grub Street (1891) is a novel by George Gissing. Inspired by his own struggles as a working writer and unhappily married man, Gissing crafts a tale of talent, ambition, and the strain placed on romance by financial need. New Grub Street poses important questions about convention in Victorian England while proving surprisingly relevant for our own times. In 18th century London, Grub Street was where the desperate writer went once their dreams of...

An exploration of the class struggle in nineteenth century London where a potential inheritance turns family and friends into desperate foes eager to escape their circumstance. A compelling story about greed, deception and the innate need to survive. Michael Snowdon lives like a pauper despite inheriting a massive fortune. He plans to leave his money to Jane, his neglected granddaughter, in hopes that she will spend it on charitable causes. Yet, Michael's...

Tomorrow I shall leave by the Messina boat, which calls at Paola. It is now more than a twelvemonth since I began to think of Paola, and an image of the place has grown in my mind. I picture a little marina; a yellowish little town just above; and behind, rising grandly, the long range of mountains which guard the shore of Calabria. Paola has no special interest that I know of, but it is the nearest point on the coast to Cosenza, which has interest...

Eve Madeley, a highly educated but poor bookkeeper, arouses the interest of Maurice Hilliard, an architect and inventor, who tries to sweep her off her feet. Though he's hardly better off financially then she, he persuades her to accompany him to Paris. Considered one of Gissing's best, this 1895 novel explores money and marriage with unusual honesty and realism.

The Unclassed (1884) is a novel by George Gissing. Inspired by his own struggles as a working writer forced to take up odd jobs while failing to gain traction with critics and readers, Gissing crafts a tale of talent, ambition, and romance fallen victim to the vicissitudes of class. The Unclassed poses important questions about convention in Victorian England while proving surprisingly relevant for our own times. Struggling to make it as a lower-class...

Denzil Quarrier, a successful, active man, becomes a candidate for Parliament, and, in the moment of triumph, is stricken by the treachery of his best friend, the meaningless treachery of a clever, bored man.

"Our Friend the Charlatan" is a 1901 novel by British novelist George Gissing. The story follows Dice Lashmore, a man who will do anything he can to get rich. However, it seems to him that the most obvious thing he could do to that end would be to find a rich wife. A thought-provoking chronicle of his various attempts at courtship and eventual moral decline, "Our Friend the Charlatan" is not to be missed by fans and collectors of Gissing's seminal...

Richard Mutimer is a young lower-class working-man who unexpectedly inherits a large fortune. He becomes the leader of a socialist movement and decides to use his inheritance to set up a cooperative factory. However, his new wealth and power serve to highlight the defects of his character and he begins to treat his workers harshly, as well as abandoning the girl of his own station to whom he had been engaged.

A cultivated poor young woman, Emily Hood, from a small town in the north of England works as a governess in a wealthy country family. She falls in love with her employer's son, Wilfrid Athel, and the two are engaged. However, during a visit to her parents' home, she is confronted by her father's employer, Dagworthy, who threatens to expose her father as a thief unless Emily marries him.

Thyrza Trent, a young hat-trimmer, meets and falls in love with Walter Egremont, an Oxford-trained idealist who gives lectures on literature to workers. Trapped by birth and circumstance, Thyrza is attempting to escape her destiny in this tale of ambition, romance, betrayal and disillusionment.