born May 27, 1867, Hanley, Staffordshire, Eng.
died March 27, 1931, London
English novelist, playwright, critic, and essayist.
His major works, inspired by Gustave Flaubert and Honoré de Balzac , form an important link between the English novel and the mainstream of European realism. He is best known for his highly detailed novels of the "Five Towns"
the Potteries in his native Staffordshire
which are the setting of Anna of the Five Towns (1902), The Old Wives' Tale (1908), and the three novels that make up The Clayhanger Family (1925). He was also a well-known critic.