The Secret Places of the Heart

H.G. Wells is best remembered as a central figure in the development of the science fiction genre. However, much of his literary output was more conventional in nature, and he published a number of novels dealing with interpersonal relationships and social themes. H.G. Wells was so charmed by Margaret Sanger that he based "The Secret Places of the Heart" on his time with her. The novel is a thinly-veiled autobiography that depicts an English gentleman, Sir Richard Hardy, who is attempting to sort out his marital problems while he travels the English countryside in the company of a psychiatrist and much brilliant discussion ranging over the past and future topics of world-wide significance. "The Secret Places of the Heart" was, in many ways, a love letter from Wells to Sanger... Many critics regard "The Secret Places of the Heart" as a heavily autobiographical account of one of Wells' failed love affairs.