New Grub Street
Set in the grinding literary marketplace of 1880s London, George Gissing’s 1891 novel measures two ways of making a living by the pen. Edwin Reardon writes for art and slowly starves, his marriage buckling as the money runs out and inspiration dries up. Jasper Milvain writes for the market, calculating and quick, and rises exactly as far as his cynicism will carry him. Around them move struggling reviewers, exhausted scholars, and women whose futures hang on a man’s success. Gissing knew this world from the inside, and his portrait of talent crushed by commerce remains one of the most honest books ever written about the writing life. Available here as a free PDF and EPUB edition.
About the Author
George Gissing (1857-1903) was an English novelist whose work drew on his own years of poverty and hardship. Author of New Grub Street and The Odd Women, he wrote unsparingly about class, money, and the frustrated ambitions of the educated poor in late Victorian England.
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Listen to New Grub Street Audiobook Free
Listen to New Grub Street by George Gissing free online. The full audiobook (19 hr 35 min, 46 chapters, read by volunteer narrators) streams free on this page.
New Grub Street (1891) is a public domain work.
| # | Chapter | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chapter 01 - A Man of His Day | 22:11 | |
| 2 | Chapter 02 - The House of Yule | 23:12 | |
| 3 | Chapter 03 - Holiday, Part 1 | 16:18 | |
| 4 | Chapter 03 - Holiday, Part 2 | 25:53 | |
| 5 | Chapter 04 - An Author and His Wife | 26:57 | |
| 6 | Chapter 05 - The Way Hither | 31:06 | |
| 7 | Chapter 06 - The Practical Friend | 28:06 | |
| 8 | Chapter 07 - Marian's Home, Part 1 | 26:23 | |
| 9 | Chapter 07 - Marian's Home, Part 2 | 30:52 | |
| 10 | Chapter 08 - To the Winning Side, Part 1 | 19:47 | |
| 11 | Chapter 08 - To the Winning Side, Part 2 | 19:33 | |
| 12 | Chapter 09 - Invita Minerva | 24:49 | |
| 13 | Chapter 10 - The Friends of the Family | 32:43 | |
| 14 | Chapter 11 - Respite | 16:44 | |
| 15 | Chapter 12 - Work Without Hope | 22:23 | |
| 16 | Chapter 13 - A Warning | 24:04 | |
| 17 | Chapter 14 - Ecruits | 39:50 | |
| 18 | Chapter 15 - The Last Resource, Part 1 | 16:50 | |
| 19 | Chapter 15 - The Last Resource, Part 2 | 17:33 | |
| 20 | Chapter 16 - Rejection | 30:33 | |
| 21 | Chapter 17 - The Parting | 40:22 | |
| 22 | Chapter 18 - The Old Home | 22:28 | |
| 23 | Chapter 19 - The Past Revived | 21:28 | |
| 24 | Chapter 20 - The End of Waiting | 41:57 | |
| 25 | Chapter 21 - Mr Yule Leaves Town, Part 1 | 19:17 | |
| 26 | Chapter 21 - Mr Yule Leaves Town, Part 2 | 28:38 | |
| 27 | Chapter 22 - The Legatees | 31:02 | |
| 28 | Chapter 23 - A Proposed Investment | 30:18 | |
| 29 | Chapter 24 - Jasper's Magnanimity | 31:05 | |
| 30 | Chapter 25 - A Fruitless Meeting, Part 1 | 14:23 | |
| 31 | Chapter 25 - A Fruitless Meeting, Part 2 | 21:15 | |
| 32 | Chapter 26 - Married Woman's Property | 30:32 | |
| 33 | Chapter 27 - The Lonely Man, Part 1 | 18:12 | |
| 34 | Chapter 27 - The Lonely Man, Part 2 | 27:03 | |
| 35 | Chapter 28 - Interim | 27:03 | |
| 36 | Chapter 29 - Catastrophe | 32:33 | |
| 37 | Chapter 30 - Waiting on Destiny | 34:49 | |
| 38 | Chapter 31 - A Rescue and a Summons, Part 1 | 17:25 | |
| 39 | Chapter 31 - A Rescue and a Summons, Part 2 | 20:53 | |
| 40 | Chapter 32 - Reardon Becomes Practical | 29:39 | |
| 41 | Chapter 33 - The Sunny Way | 26:31 | |
| 42 | Chapter 34 - A Check, Part 1 | 16:48 | |
| 43 | Chapter 34 - A Check, Part 2 | 20:21 | |
| 44 | Chapter 35 - Fever and Rest | 24:00 | |
| 45 | Chapter 36 - Jasper's Delicate Case | 31:20 | |
| 46 | Chapter 37 - Rewards | 19:25 |
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