A Novelist on Novels

Walter Lionel George was born to British parents on 20th March 1882 in Paris, France.

It was not until he was a young man of 20 that he learned English. In 1905 he moved to London to work in an office but soon found himself working as a journalist, as a foreign correspondent, for various London newspapers.

By 1911, with the publication of his first novel ‘A Bed of Roses’, which portrayed the fall of a penniless young woman into prostitution, his efforts were rewarded and he turned to literature as a full time career.

His writings now sold well. He added short stories to his offerings as well as literary essays and several tracts that discussed left-wing themes. Others thought his subject matter to be difficult and poorly chosen and his political views gained him little credit amongst his peers although such luminaries as George Orwell praised both subject matter and style.

His personal life was also turbulent. His three marriages left him widowed twice. In 1908 he married Helen Porter who died in 1914, Helen Agnes Moorhead followed in 1916 but she died in 1920. His last marriage was to Kathleen Geipel in 1921.

W. L George died on 30th January 1926.