The Five Towns Series by Arnold Bennett, Susanna González, Eva María G. Pardo

Anna of the Five Towns (1902) depicts the severe economic and moral pressures of life in the Staffordshire Potteries in the late nineteenth century. Against the vitality and harshness of the Five Towns, Bennett's narrative is a compelling delineation of his heroine's attempts to gain freedomand independence from her father and the repressive regime of Methodism. This is the first of Bennett's novels to mark out the province of the Five Towns where much of his later fiction is set.

The Old Wives' Tale (1908) celebrates the romance of even the most ordinary lives as it tells the story of the two Baines sisters, placid stay-at-home Constance and rebellious Sophia, from their girlhood to their last days. They move from the family drapery shop in provincial Bursley duringthe repressive mid-Victorian period to old age in the modern era of mass marketing and the internal combustion engine... moreThe Old Wives' Tale (1908) celebrates the romance of even the most ordinary lives as it tells the story of the two Baines sisters, placid stay-at-home Constance and rebellious Sophia, from their girlhood to their last days. They move from the family drapery shop in provincial Bursley duringthe repressive mid-Victorian period to old age in the modern era of mass marketing and the internal combustion engine. The setting ranges from the Wesleyan Methodist chapel in Bursley to a Paris brothel, the action from the controlled domestic routine of the Baines household to wife murder and theSiege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1. This edition of The Old Wives' Tale gives fascinating critical insights into Bennett's most wide-ranging novel, considered by many to be his masterpiece. less

Arnold Bennett (1867-1931) was a British writer. He went to work for his father but was unhappy working for his father and earning very little money. The theme of parental miserliness occurs in his works. At 21 he went to London to clerk for a solicitor. He then began working for a magazine called Women. When he noticed the poor material being submitted he began writing a serial for the periodical. First published in 1910... moreArnold Bennett (1867-1931) was a British writer. He went to work for his father but was unhappy working for his father and earning very little money. The theme of parental miserliness occurs in his works. At 21 he went to London to clerk for a solicitor. He then began working for a magazine called Women. When he noticed the poor material being submitted he began writing a serial for the periodical. First published in 1910. Edwin Clayhanger is the central figure in this portrayal of Victorian lower-middle-class society. As a shy young man, Edwin is bullied by his father, Darius, but he succeeds in developing his interests in spite of a restrictive environment. One of Edwin's interests is Hilda Lessways, a young woman from Staffordshire. Hilda proves to be independent and enigmatic, while Edwin proves that there are many ways to view love. less

This stirring coming-of-age story recounts the childhood and youth of the eponymous protagonist, Hilda Lessways, who would eventually grow up to marry Edwin Clayhanger, the scion of a wealthy and powerful family in the Potteries district of the Midlands region in England. This is the second in a series of novels that depict the lives of the members of the Clayhanger family.