Mary Gladys Meredith Webb

Born in 1881 and dead in 1927, Mary Webb was an English novelist and poet whose fiction is closely tied to the landscapes of Shropshire. She is especially remembered for novels such as Precious Bane and for the way she blended country life, spiritual feeling, and the natural world.

Although she did not achieve major fame during her lifetime, her reputation grew after her death, and later readers helped secure her place in twentieth-century English literature. Her writing is often noted for its rich descriptive language and for the powerful role that setting plays in the lives of her characters.

Webb's work still appeals to readers who enjoy literary fiction with a strong sense of atmosphere, moral struggle, and the beauty and harshness of rural life.