One of them, in fact, was a huge hit, Half a Sixpence. Based on his novel, Kipps, it told a story of class structure and social mores, a topic dear to his heart, following the life of Arthur Kipps, a lower-class orphan who later in life inherits a fortune. With a score by David Heneker, iIt opened in London's West End and starred a young rock-n-roll star, Tommy Steele. He brought the show over the U.S., where it played on Broadway for 511 performances, starred in the Hollywood adaptation and became an international star.
But there's also another, far lesser-known show based on a novel by H.G. Wells. It never made it to the U.S., but did play in London in 1969, Ann Veronica. The story is one of women's emancipation around the turn of the century (Wells was an ardent feminist), as a young girl wants to make her way in the world and rebels against her Edwardian father.
And so, get in your time machine and return to 1908 London, and the musical comedy stylings of H.G. Wells.