George Gissing

George Robert Gissing was an English novelist who published twenty-three novels between 1880 and 1903. Although his early works are naturalistic, he developed into one of the the most accomplished realists of the late-Victorian era. Born in Wakefield, Yorkshire, England, to lower-middle class parents, Gissing went on to win a scholarship to Owens College, the present day Victoria University of Manchester. A brilliant student, he excelled at university, winning many coveted prizes, including the Shakespeare scholarship prize in 1875. Between …