Welsh-born British novelist whose chief strength lies in his understanding of provincial life and ambition. Most of his books trace the rise of a character from poverty to affluence, often melodramatically.

The son of a gardener, Spring left school at the age of 11 but continued his education in the evenings, eventually becoming a newspaper reporter and book critic. His first novel, Shabby Tiger (1934), had a sequel, the partly autobiographical Rachel Rosing (1935). With his best-selling novel O Absalom! (1938)—afterward reissued as My Son, My Son (filmed 1940)—Spring won worldwide fame. He settled in Cornwall, the setting for books that followed, such as Fame Is the Spur (1940), Hard Facts (1944), and The Houses in Between (1951).