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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 involving with great characters. The storyline is about writers trying to stave off poverty in London and the difficulties of writing when you don’t know where your next meal is coming from. There are contrast between naturalist authors and commercial writers and between the expectations of the readers - old and young, men and women. The novel feels very modern with magazines deliberately dumbing down to attract readers because the attention span of the masses lasts no more than two paragraphs. A must read for aspiring authors! Born in Exile - Godwin Peak is highly intelligent, but poor. After leaving school he travels to another part of England to represent himself as interested in becoming part of the clergy. His real aim is to make a good marriage which also means to gain an estate through his marriage and to rise in society. What Peak realizes is that, try as he does, he cannot escape his place in society. Gissing presents an England conscious of class and propriety and the inability of the people, whether or not well born, to conceive of lives lived outside the confines of tradition.
