Martin Eden by Jack London

MARTIN EDEN is the story of young Martin Eden, who struggles to rise far above his destitute working-class background through an intense and difficult pursuit of self-improvement and education in hopes of becoming a professional writer and winning the hand of Ruth Morse. Because Eden is a rough, uneducated sailor from a working class background, and the Morses are a wealthy and refined family, marriage is impossible unless Eden reaches their level of wealth and social status.