Howard Spring (Robert Howard Spring) Biography

British novelist, born in Cardiff; he left school at the age of 12 and became a message-boy with the South Wales Daily News. He subsequently worked as a journalist in Bradford, Manchester, and London. Shabby Tiger (1934) was his first novel. O Absalom! (1938), published in the USA and later in Britain as My Son, My Son!, gained him a wide readership. Fame is the Spur (1940), which narrates the rise to power of a Labour politician, increased his reputation. He retired to Cornwall in 1939, which supplies the settings for a number of his later novels, including Hard Facts (1944), The Houses in between (1951), and I Met a Lady (1961). His work is noted for its straightforwardly compelling narratives and humane characterizations. Heaven Lies about Us (1939), In the Meantime (1942), and And Another Thing … (1946) were collected as The Autobiography of Howard Spring (1972).