author
Leonard Merrick
1864–1939
A gifted English novelist once praised by fellow writers as a writer’s writer, he moved from hard early jobs and the stage into a literary career marked by wit, polish, and sharp observation. Though less widely read today, his fiction and stories were deeply admired in his own time.
7 Audiobooks
Cynthia With an Introduction by Maurice Hewlett
by Leonard Merrick
A Chair on the Boulevard
by Leonard Merrick
The Man Who Was Good
by Leonard Merrick
To Tell You the Truth
by Leonard Merrick
One Man's View
by Leonard Merrick
Conrad in Quest of His Youth: An Extravagance of Temperament
by Leonard Merrick
The Quaint Companions With an Introduction by H. G. Wells
by Leonard Merrick
About the author
Born in London on February 21, 1864, Leonard Merrick was an English novelist and short-story writer. He was born Leonard Miller and came from a Jewish family; after financial trouble at home, he spent time in South Africa before returning to England and trying to build a career in the theatre.
That early experience on the stage fed into his writing. Merrick went on to publish novels, stories, and plays, and became especially respected by other authors for the elegance and craft of his prose. J. M. Barrie famously called him the "novelist's novelist," a sign of how highly his work was valued even if he never became a mass-market celebrity.
Merrick died in London on August 7, 1939. He is now remembered as a finely skilled, somewhat overlooked figure in English literature, with a reputation built on style, intelligence, and the lasting esteem of his literary peers.