New Grub Street

New Grub Street is a novel by George Gissing published in 1891. Gissing revised and shortened the novel for a French edition of 1901.

Set in London at the end of the 19th century, the city is changing rapidly and literature is changing in the same way. Writers are increasingly aware that literature has become a big business more than an art and that, before being famous for their works, it is convenient for them to be famous for their social merits. Popular journalism is born and the first agents and "literary advisers" appear.

In this jungle a series of very varied characters try to adapt to the changes and not succumb to poverty: Jasper Milvain writes "garbage, but very special garbage, of very good quality"; Edwin Reardon, after a quietly prestigious triumph, tries to write "for the market" while his wife, Amy, hopes that he will never become an ordinary man; Marian Yule, the daughter of a despotic scholar with no fortune, tries to free herself from her father's influence and find out if Jasper loves her or not.

The destiny of these diverse characters will change after receiving an unexpected inheritance, altering their relationships and forcing them to show their true colors.