Demos. A Story of English Socialism. Volume 2

The class struggles and marital strife of George Gissing's novels were most likely informed by his own problems. Gissing's scholarly success allowed him to leave his working-class family and study at Manchester's Owens College, but he was expelled from the school for stealing money to support a local prostitute with whom he had fallen in love. Following his expulsion, Gissing travelled in the United States, returning to England to marry the prostitute and live as an impoverished author. He depicts Victorian social strife in such novels as The Unclassed and The Nether World.