Book of the week: The Young H.G. Wells by Claire Tomalin
Tomalin’s ‘compulsively readable’ book shows how Wells became the ‘great prophet of the modern age’
“Nobody predicted the 21st century better than H.G. Wells,” said Kathryn Hughes in the Daily Mail. Born “when Queen Victoria was still youngish”, he wrote a series of bestselling page-turners about “men on the Moon, environmental disaster, class war” and racial oppression – as well as “Martians invading the Earth”.
He was the product of a “working-class family of limited means”: his father was a shopkeeper in Bromley, his mother a lady’s maid. Wells was a sickly child who essentially educated himself by “reading books in bed while recovering from life-threatening lung infections”. Yet he triumphantly surmounted these obstacles, becoming an astonishingly prolific author, as well as a “passionate socialist” and a relentless erotic adventurer (today, he would probably be branded a “sex addict”). In this “compulsively readable” biography, Claire Tomalin shows how Wells’s early experiences helped turn him into the “great prophet of the modern age”.
Focusing on his first four decades, The Young H.G. Wells gives its “keenest attention” to its subject’s personal relationships, said John Carey in The Sunday Times. Wells didn’t let two marriages (the first to his cousin Isabel, the second to one of his former students, Amy Robbins) stand in the way of his promiscuous nature. Women found him irresistibly attractive – he “smelt deliciously of honey”, one said – and his many lovers included Rebecca West, with whom he fathered a son.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Being his wife can’t have been fun, said Anthony Cummins in The Observer: Robbins – whom Wells insisted on calling Jane – was even cajoled into buying clothes for another lover’s baby. Tomalin sometimes sounds as if she approves of such behaviour: Wells, she writes, “knew how to… enjoy women and the world” – words that “sit ill” with the shabby conduct she skilfully portrays.
I found all the “love stuff” a bit of a drag, said Laura Freeman in The Times. By contrast, “the book stuff soars”. Wells was astonishingly versatile as a writer, churning out novels, short stories and reams of journalism as well as hard-hitting polemics (his anti-poverty tract, The Misery of Boots, can still “send a shiver up the spine”). He mixed with the likes of Henry James, George Gissing and Arnold Bennett.
“To this day, no one fully understands how one man, albeit a genius, was able to write so much and so well,” said Michael Dirda in The Washington Post. For a “compact overview” of this “endlessly fascinating man and writer”, Tomalin’s biography is “hard to beat”.
Viking 256pp £20; The Week Bookshop £15.99
The Week Bookshop
To order this title or any other book in print, visit theweekbookshop.co.uk, or speak to a bookseller on 020-3176 3835. Opening times: Monday to Saturday 9am-5.30pm and Sunday 10am-4pm.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Unpasteurised milk and the American right
Under the radar Former darling of health-conscious liberal foodies is now a 'conservative culture war signal': a sign of mistrust in experts
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Government shutdown looming? Blame the border
Talking Points Democrats and Republicans say funding for immigration enforcement is the budget battle's latest sticking point. That's about all they agree on.
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
'Conservatives have not limited their attack on reproductive rights to the US'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Dresden: on the trail of a Romantic icon in Germany
the week recommends The Saxon city celebrates the 250th birthday of Caspar David Friedrich this year
By The Week UK Published
-
Recipe: nasi goreng spicy fried rice
The Week Recommends Perfect for weeknights, this gluten-free twist on Indonesian fried rice is 'oh-so-good'
By The Week UK Published
-
Angelica Kauffman: 'shrewd and entertaining' exhibition
the week recommends One of two female founders of the Royal Academy, time was 'not kind to her reputation'
By The Week UK Published
-
Starter for Ten: 'very fun' musical adaptation of One Day author's debut
the week recommends 'Top-notch' cast combined with 'energetic and fun' songs makes for a 'feel-good' show
By The Week UK Published
-
6 well-thought-out homes with libraries
Feature Featuring a Tudor Revival in Texas and a condo with illuminated bookshelves in Illinois
By The Week Staff Published
-
Rebecca Serle's 6 favorite books about interpersonal relationships
Feature The best-selling author recommends works by J.D. Salinger, Dolly Alderton, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Príncipe: an island paradise off the west coast of Africa
The Week Recommends The remote island isn't easy to get to, but the journey is 'well worth it'
By The Week UK Published
-
Recipe: pistachio, lemon and coriander seed cake
The Week Recommends The unconventional coriander seeds 'make the flavours sing'
By The Week UK Published