L. P. Hartley

L. P. Hartley CBE
Born	Leslie Poles Hartley (1895-12-30)30 December 1895 Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire, England
Died	13 December 1972(1972-12-13) (aged 76) London, England
Education	Harrow School Balliol College, Oxford
Genre	Novel, short story
Notable works	Eustace and Hilda (1947) The Go-Between (1953)
Notable awards	James Tait Black Memorial Prize 1947 Heinemann Award 1953 Commander of the Order of the British Empire 1956 Companion of Literature by the Royal Society of Literature 1972

Leslie Poles Hartley CBE (30 December 1895 – 13 December 1972) was an English novelist and short story writer. Although his first fiction was published in 1924, his best-known works are the Eustace and Hilda trilogy (1944–1947) and The Go-Between (1953). The latter was made into a film in 1971, as was his 1957 novel The Hireling in 1973.

Hartley began writing stories at the age of 11. He worked as an editor during his time at Oxford and spent many years afterwards writing book reviews. In his private life, Hartley spent much of his time rowing, swimming, and socializing, often traveling with friends. He made frequent visits to Venice for many years and enjoyed days out on the canals. His writing career began with short story collections, with his first novel, The Shrimp and the Anemone, published at age 49. He was known for writing about social codes, moral responsibility and family relationships, and many of his works portray passion as leading to disaster. Hartley died in December 1973 at the age of 76.