Set in late-Victorian London, George Gissing's New Grub Street (1891) offers a bleak portrait of the literary marketplace, where art succumbs to commerce. The novel contrasts two writers: Edwin Reardon, an idealistic novelist of declining talent and shrinking sales, and Jasper Milvain, a pragmatic, ambitious journalist who understands publicity and profit. As Reardon's marriage to Amy collapses under financial strain, Milvain ruthlessly pursues success and romance. Gissing exposes a world of precarious livelihoods, failed marriages, and quiet despair, asking whether literary integrity can survive in a commodified age. It remains a piercing critique of authorship, class, and economic pressure.
