Sleeping Fires (1895). by George Gissing (novel)

by George Gissing

Book Overview

George Robert Gissing 22 November 1857 - 28 December 1903) was an English novelist who published 23 novels between 1880 and 1903. Gissing also worked as a teacher and tutor throughout his life. He... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 153323695X
• ISBN13: 9781533236951
• Release Date: May 2016
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 68 Pages
• Weight: 0.34 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 8.0" x 10.0"

Customer Reviews

Renewing Love in Middle Age

"Sleeping Fires" (1895) is a short novella by the English novelist George Gissing (1857 -- 1903) that explores the possibility of finding a former love and overcoming grief and guilt in middle and late life. Gissing has never been a popular novelist; but his books have lasted. He has a small but loyal group of readers and his books are becoming accessible and in-print once again. Some critics, such as John Halperin in his biography "George Gissing: A Life in Books" rate "Sleeping Fires" highly indeed within Gissing's output. "Sleeping Fires" is set in Greece and in London. The two major characters are Edward Langley, age 42 and Lady Agnes Revill, age 37. As the book opens, Langley is touring in Greece. Langley is well-to-do, has never had to work, and feels a sense of emptiness in his life. Sixteen years earlier Langley had courted a young woman named Agnes Forrest, but his marriage proposal was rejected when Langley confessed to Forrest's father that he had fathered a son out of wedlock three years earlier. The mother had taken the boy away and married another man. Langley did not know of the child's whereabouts. Langley had remained unmarried living an essentially leisurely life. Agnes Forrest had married a member of Parliament to become Lady Agnes Revill, where she had moved in powerful British society, become socially prominent, and conservative in her outlook. Revill died, leaving her a widow courted by another influential member of Parliament, Lord Henry Strands. While in Greece, Langley meets a companion from his college days named Worboys who has become a classical scholar-- and an unmitigated pendant. Worboys is accompanied by an 18 year old boy, Louis Reed, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Langley. It develops that Reed is the ward of Lady Revill who has sent the lad on tour because the youth is coming under what she fears is the unfortunate influence of a woman named Mrs. Treslian, who has liberal views about social equality and about helping the condition of the poor. When Reed gets a letter from Treslian saying that her relationship with him must end due to her guardian's objection, Langley agrees with Reed to sail back to England and discuss the matter with Lady Revill. Langley is still unhappy over the rejection years earlier by Lady Revill and her family. When the two meet after so many years, it is with an awkward formality, as Lady Revill informs Langley that Louis Reed is his son. Louis soon thereafter dies in Greece, and the two former would-be lovers engage in a sharp dialogue of recrimination. Lady Revill blames Langley for fathering the child and not offering to marry the mother. Langley, in turn, blames Lady Revill for not telling him about his son and for making a loveless marriage following her rejection of him. With Louis dead, the story shifts to the possible renewal of the relationship between Langley and Revill. Much of the tale is played out in dialogue between the two, which is frank and cutting for a Vic