The Nether World

The Nether World
First edition cover
AuthorGeorge Gissing
LanguageEnglish
PublisherSmith, Elder & Co.
Publication date
1889
Publication placeEngland
ISBN978-0-19-953828-7 (Oxford University Press paperback edition, 2008)

The Nether World is a novel written in 1889 by the English author George Gissing. The plot concerns several poor families living in the slums of 19th-century London. Rich in naturalistic detail, the novel concentrates on the individual problems and hardships which result from the typical shortages experienced by the lower classes—want of money, employment and decent living conditions. The Nether World is pessimistic and concerns exclusively the lives of poor people: there is no juxtaposition with the world of the rich.