George Gissing was a late Victorian author. Between 1880 and 1903 Gissing wrote 23 novels. His early works were naturalistic and later he wrote in a realistic style. His works include New Grub Street, Born in Exile, The Odd Women, In the Year of Jubilee, and The Whirlpool. Alfred Athel loves Greek. While attending Oxford he suffers a breakdown. An excerpt reads," So Miss Hood -- Emily, as she was called by the little group of people away in Yorkshire, to whom she was other than a governess; Emily; as we will permit ourselves to call her henceforth -- always had the meal of tea with the children. After that the evening was her own, save that the twins kept her company until their hour of bedtime. The school-room was also her sitting-room. After half-past eight in the evening she had it to herself, and there she passed many an hour of quiet content, playing softly on the piano, reading, dreaming."