'Because one book had a sort of success he imagined his struggles were over.'
Scholarly, anxious Edwin Reardon had achieved a precarious career as the writer of serious fiction. On the strength of critical acclaim for his fourth novel, he has married the refined Amy Yule. But the brilliant future Amy expected has evaded her husband. The catastrophe of the Reardons' failing marriage is set among the rising and falling fortunes of novelists, journalists, and scholars who labour 'in the valley of the shadow of books'.
George Gissing's New Grub Street was written...

The Nether World (1889), generally regarded as the finest of Gissing's early novels, is a highly dramatic, sometimes violent tale of man's caustic vision shaped by the bitter personal experience of poverty. This tale of intrigue depicts life among the artisans, factory-girls, and slum-dwellers, documenting an inescapable world devoid of sentimentality and steeped with people scheming and struggling to survive. With Zolaesque intensity and relentlessness, Gissing lays bare the economic forces which determine the aspirations and expectations of those born to a life of labor.
About the...

A novel of social realism, The Odd Women reflects the major sexual and cultural issues of the late nineteenth century. Unlike the "New Woman" novels of the era which challenged the idea that the unmarried woman was superfluous, Gissing satirizes that image and portrays women as "odd" and marginal in relation to an ideal. Set in a grimy, fog-ridden London, Gissing's "odd" women range from the idealistic, financially self-sufficient Mary Barfoot to the Madden sisters who struggle to subsist in low paying jobs and little chance for joy. With narrative detachment, Gissing portrays contemporary...

This volume contains three novels: Nether World - Gissing writes superbly, the effects of poverty and social oppression, are presented from first-hand knowledge. This novel presents the gruelling hardships of Victorian London's working poor which test their character. The unrelenting struggle to obtain enough food and coal for themselves and their children wears down even the greatest of heroes because they have no hope for a better life. Whilst the subject matter is depressing, Gissing cares deeply for his characters and the novel is both honest and gripping. New Grub Street - Another...

This volume contains four novels:

1. The Odd Women.
This is an astonishing book: a subversive, feminist take on marriage and womens roles in society, written by a man in the 1890s. The criticism of Victorian marriage and Victorian men runs deep within this excellent story. The characters are fascinating and believable, and the story will have you turning the pages as quickly as any contemporary novel.

2. Eves Ransom.
This short novel is a character study of a man who determines almost on a whim to rescue a young woman from a life of drudgery. It is a good story with timeless...

The Odd Women is an 1893 novel by the English novelist George Gissing. Its themes are the role of women in society, marriage, morals and the early feminist movement.