Gissing, George: - English novelist George Gissing is renowned for his accurate depictions of late Victorian life. His parents belonged to the lower middle class, and he was born on November 22, 1857, in Wakefield, Yorkshire, England. Gissing attended Owens College in Manchester and then won a scholarship to study at London University (now University College London), obtaining a solid education despite his early financial struggles. As a journalist, Gissing started his writing career by penning articles, reviews, and short tales for several magazines. Despite the publication of his first book, "Workers in the Dawn," in 1880, he did not begin to receive some attention as a novelist until the mid-1880s. Gissing struggled with money and personal issues throughout of his life, even though he was a gifted writer. He suffered from health issues and depressive episodes, and his first wife, Nell Harrison, was the subject of turbulent relationships.