Henry Graham Greene

Greene converted to Catholicism in 1926, before getting married to Vivien Dayrell-Browning, the next year.

They couple had two children Lucy, born in 1933 and Francis, born in 1936.

After his divorce in 1948, he never married again; however, he got involved in a relationship with Lady Catherine Walston, the wife of a famous British politician.

Greene was born in St. John’s House, the boarding house of school, where his parents lived and his father was the school’s housemaster. His family was the descendant of the wealthy and influential owners of the Greene King brewery.

He attended the St. John’s House in 1910, where his father was appointed the headmaster. As a student he was quiet and reserved, which made him vulnerable to bullies.

Severely depressed, he tried to commit suicide a number of times, for which in 1920, at the age of 16, he was sent to London to be treated through psychoanalysis.

Six months later, he returned to school and in 1922, and for a brief period he was a part of the Communist Party of Great Britain.

‘Babbling April’, his first set of poems was published in 1925, while he was at the Balliol College, Oxford, from where he graduated with a second-class degree in history.

At first he worked with the ‘Nottingham Journal’, before taking up the job of a copy editor with ‘The Times’ in 1926.

He published his first novel ‘The Man Within’ in 1929 to favorable reviews, which led him to quit his job the next year to concentrate on his writing fully.

In 1930, he published ‘The Name of Action’ and the ‘Rumour at Nightfall’, a couple of years later, both of which did not do well.

His novel ‘Stamboul Train’, published in 1932 was his breakthrough novel, which was later adapted into a film.

His next popular novel was ‘A Gun For Sale’ published in 1936 and was filmed no less than five times under several titles.

‘Brighton Rock’, a murder thriller, by Greene is considered one of his best novels and was adapted for two films, one play, one radio dramatization and a musical.

‘The Power and the Glory’ published in 1940, was made into the film ‘The Fugitive’ in 1947. Though the book was slightly controversial as it seemed to “offend some Catholics”, it is considered Greene’s magnum opus by many.

Greene’s ‘The Heart of the Matter’ was a huge success and was listed in the ‘100 best English-language novels of the 20th century’ by the Modern Library, an American publishing company, in 1998.