Hugh Garner

Hugh Garner (February 22, 1913 – June 30, 1979) was a British-born Canadian novelist.

Biography

Early life

Hugh Garner was born on February 22, 1913 in Batley, Yorkshire, England. He came to Canada in 1919 with his parents, and was raised in Toronto, Ontario where he attended Danforth Technical High School.

During the Great Depression, he rode the rails in both Canada and the United States, and then joined the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War. During World War II he served in the Canadian navy.

Career

Following the war, Garner concentrated on his writing. He published his first novel, Storm Below, in 1949. Garner's most famous novel, Cabbagetown, depicted life in the Toronto neighbourhood of Cabbagetown, then Canada's most famous slum, during the Depression. It was published in abridged form in 1950, and in an expanded edition in 1968. The Intruders, a sequel depicting the gentrification of the neighbourhood, was published in 1976.

Later in his career, he concentrated on mystery novels, including Death in Don Mills (1975) and Murder Has Your Number (1978).