George Gissing (1857–1903)

Poverty has many faces in this novel, but they are always grim. While not, with a few exceptions, suffering from the deadly poverty of the utterly destitute, the characters nonetheless experience the grinding and soul-destroying lack of enough money to pay for the necessities of life as they see it. Gissing captures the indignities and choices of poverty: the man who keeps his overcoat on because he has jacket to wear under it; the man who lacks a penny to buy a loaf of bread locally and has show more to walk farther to buy a cheaper one, or the man who carefully keeps one decent set of clothes to wear to work and an infinitely shabbier one to wear all the rest of the time. Clothes may not make the man, but they reveal his finances and how far he has fallen since well-made clothes take longer to become shabby than cheap ones.

Primarily this novel is about the literary world of 1880s London and, by extenseion, the conflict between art and commerce. The would-be novelist Edward Reardon (loosely based on Gissing himself according to the introduction to my Penguin edition) aims only for art, while the up-and-comer Jasper Milvain seeks to exploit the new gossippy world of periodicals to become literarily and financially successful. Contrasting with hem is Alfred Yule, an older man who had been a classical scholar and literary success in an earlier era and who has trained his adult daughter Marian to do his research and write for him. Rounding out the characters are Marian's cousin Amy, who marries Reardon because she'd like to have a famous novelist for a husband; Milvain's two sisters who he sets to writing children's books as they have no income after their mother dies; Marian's mother who came from a less educated background than her husband and is shunned by him; and several other aspiring and poverty-stricken writers. It is the interactions of all these characters, and their rising and falling fortunes, that form this complex and depressing novel.

The characters in this novel often behave in ways that, as with Jude the Obscure (which also involves a young man forced to abandon his dreams because of poverty) that made me want to slap them and tell them to shape up. Why is Reardon so stubbornly self-destructive in so many ways. Why is Yule so cruel and unfeeling to his wife and daughter? Why is Milvain so cold and calculating? I am not complaining about Gissing's characterizations; rather my reactions show how real the characters became for me. When the possibility of both Marian and Amy receiving bequests upon the death of an uncle becomes a reality, the characters show what they are really made of and the money clarifies what had been partially hidden.

In addition to presenting the literary scene and its conflicts (plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose) and a vivid portrait of what poverty looks like, both for the utterly poor and for those who desire to remain "respectable" and "genteel" when their income cannot support it, Gissing provides a look at the role of women, the mechanics of publishing in the era, and the class distinctions among what we would now call the middle and lower classes. But overall what he creates in this novel is an overwhelming feeling of gloom, mirrored by the fog that so often envelops London.

As an additional note, the Penguin edition I read was enhanced by an insightful introduction that helped me understand the structure of the publishing world and Gissing's role in it. show less

I read this a few months ago but the characters remain vivid. This is a testament to Gissing's storytelling. He took time to build up the plot and the characters, allowing you to understand how they feel and think. As a result, it's very hard to choose sides. Jasper Milvain may be a villain to break off his engagement with Marian Yule but how do you fault a man who took care of his sisters and has drive and ambition? Amy Yule thinks her husband, Edwin Reardon, didn't try hard enough but we, show more as readers, know that he did, and how much it took him. A clash between ideals and money, and there's no right or wrong. show less

The novel 'New Grub Street' was first published in 1891 but some elements still resonates today. It opens with aspiring writer Jasper Milvain lamenting to his family that his friend and fellow author Edwin Reardon has made the terrible error of marrying for love. Reardon’s wife, Amy, is from a comfortable background, but Reardon will be incapable of making enough from his writing to support her because he is incapable of exploiting the burgeoning periodicals market. The growth of the show more periodicals market here is almost comparable with the rise of the ebook a few years ago as a way for authors to make money — or more often fail to.

Milvain likes to see himself as ambitious and aware of the challenges of the market but he soon falls in love with a cousin of Reardon’s wife, Marian Yule. Marian is intelligent and represents the woman he would marry if money was not a factor but sadly neither have any. Her father is a respected but unsuccessful writer for periodicals and Marian works alongside him as researcher but while he gets all the credit. When Marian is in line for an inheritance, Milvain decides that he can marry the woman he loves, secure in the knowledge that they will have enough to live on. But when the inheritance fails to materialise he backtracks but rather than him break the engagement off he manipulates her so that she is the one who actually breaks off.

Meanwhile Rearden's financial worries only deepen. There is some beautifully subtle dialogue between Rearden and Amy as they struggle with these conflicting demands. For Amy art is not just about money but about status, identity, her place in society. Reardon decides to abandon writing and secures a place as a clerk but Amy is horrified and returns to live with her family rather than live in obscurity with him. When Amy inherits a substantial sum of money and after the convenient death of Reardon, Milvain and Amy marry, both have a similarly jaundiced worldview.

'New Grub Street' takes on some pretty broad social issues, class, money, the price of art and women's' place in a male dominated society. The characterisation is astute and beautifully crafted whilst London with it's fog is vividly evoked. I was particularly interested in the depiction of the young women who feature– Marian Yule, Amy Reardon, and Milvain’s sisters, Maud and Dora, all are thoughtful and articulate, and the woman's place in society is gradually changing, they have some financial rights of their own. However, my biggest disappointment was with Milvain himself. I found him rather insipid and would have preferred him to have been an out and out rotter rather than simply pragmatic.

On the whole 'New Grub Street' offers both a fascinating slice of social history and a realisation that, while the technology might have changed, the rivalries of the myriad authors are not so different. Despite the public being generally much better educated today, most writers still rely on endorsements by their peers to get their books noticed by the buying public and to actually make a living out of writing. show less

A novel take on different approaches to marriage, along with issues of female education and emancipation. Very progressive for its day (1893), especially because the male author focuses on female characters, in a convincing, engaging, and non-patronising way, with plenty of twists and intrigue.

Doctor Madden is widowed, with several daughters. They’re a bookish household, but he’s not a fully qualified doctor, so they’re not affluent. He confides in his eldest:
“Women, old or young, show more should never have to think about money.”
He dies by the fifth page, before putting his affairs in order.

A few years on, and times are hard for the Maddens. They vowed early on not to spend their small amount of capital, but even getting an unpaid, live-in position as a governess is difficult without a school certificate, the cost of lamp oil means winter evenings are too dark to read, and the fear of illness is profound when you’re poor. Only 15 pages in, and one asks:
“Is such a life worthy of the name?”
But this is not a depressing book, although tragedies, deaths, and abuse certainly occur. It’s about women working together to improve themselves, forging friendships, and becoming empowered.

In London, the Maddens reconnect with a childhood friend, the fiercely independent Rhoda Nunn. She lodges with Miss Barfoot, and together they run a clerical/secretarial college, not to prevent women marrying “suitably” but:
“To see that those who can’t [marry] shall have the means of living with some satisfaction.”

They believe in redemption, though not from traditional Christian practice or belief.
“A mistake, however wretched, mustn’t condemn a woman for life.”

The lives and loves of various women connected with Rhoda and Miss Barfoot are explored over more than 300 pages, broken into short chapters. A fascinating variety of circumstances and outcomes that give real insight into lives of the period.

Image: ‘Reflection in the Thames’ by Atkinson Grimshaw That could be Monica! He died the year this novel was published, and the painting was was in 1880 (Source)

Class and money

The novel is steeped in the fact that class and money matter, but are not necessarily congruent - something I relate to, having been educated in a selective boarding school, raised with the associated attitudes (many of which I’ve since dropped) and tastes, but without ever having the money to live them. Monica was “raised half a lady and half a shop-girl”, epitomising the Maddens’ struggles.

Class and money profoundly affect, but don’t fully determine, their lives:
“They knew themselves superior to the women who had grudgingly paid them.”
Each escapes in a different way, with varying success.

Miss Barfoot’s school, though a charitable endeavour, is selectively so. It is only for women of the educated class. She is explicitly not interested in working class girls, who are likely to revert to “their animal nature”!

Marriage - and alternatives

“Some marry for a good reason, some for a bad, and mostly it all comes to the same end.”
The options explored are not limited to marrying a social equal, being a spinster, or becoming a fallen woman. There are women sharing accommodation through necessity (it’s easy to assume a lesbian relationship, but it’s not always so), marrying for money, illicit relationships, “free unions” (open cohabitation), and “perfect freedom on both sides” possibly including non-monogamy.

At times, the earnest discussion teeters to excess, but the characters and their lives kept me engaged.

Quotes

• “Perfume smoothed the air.”... Now widowed, “she was able to indulge this taste for modern exuberance in domestic adornment.”

• “Though despising X for his plebeian tastes, she shrewdly retained the good will of a husband who seemed a candidate for length of years.”

• “She lived at the utmost pace compatible with technical virtue.”

• “Of course I am not quite happy. What woman is? I mean, what woman above the level of a petted cat?”

• “Everything he said presupposed his own supremacy.” [He’s also a stalker who turns to coercive control.]

• “Fear of losing his wife’s love restrained him from practical despotism.” [She doesn’t love him.]

• “A womanly occupation means, practically, an occupation that a man disdains.”

See also

Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own, which I reviewed HERE. show less