3.5
The Old Wives' Tale With Preface by the Author (Aziloth Books)
Arnold Bennett was born in England's heavily industrialised 'Potteries' district (his fictional 'Five Towns'), leaving for London in 1898, aged 21. Following the success of his first novel, in 1903 he moved to that mecca for all things avant-garde and artistic - Paris.
Bennett was drawn to the French literary styles of naturalism and realism, evolving a brilliant synthesis of the two techniques that he uses with such effect in The Old Wives' Tales. In his journal, he speaks of having been inspired to write the novel by observing an old lady in a café in Paris and, looking past the rather uninspiring picture she presented, he thought of how her life might have been lived and the youthful aspirations and disappointments that she may have experienced.
By turns sombre, uplifting and thought-provoking, the story follows the lives of two sisters, the adventurous, unconventional Sophia, and Constance, her more dour and custom-bound sibling. Sophia elopes with her lover to Paris, is ultimately abandoned by him, and survives the bloody uprising of the Paris Commune to establish a thriving boarding house. Constance never leaves her family home, marries locally, has a child, and continues the family business.
In their declining years the sisters are brought together again and, despite their different paths, they share in their own ways the pride, pathos and banality of life - and their love for each other.
FictionClassicsLiterarySmall Town & Rural
RELEASED2016
PUBLISHERAziloth Books
LENGTH408
LANGUAGEEN
Enoch Arnold Bennett was an English novelist, playwright, and journalist, whose novels and plays generally reflected middle-class life in north Staffordshire. He was born in Hanley, Staffordshire (which is now Stoke-on-Trent), the son of a solicitor. He was educated in Newcastle-under-Lyme. After school, he worked for his father, and in his spare time he was a journalist. At age twenty-one, he moved to London to work as a solicitor's clerk. In 1889 he won a writing competition in *Tit-Bits* magazine and decided to become a full-time journalist. In 1894, he became assistant editor of the periodical *Woman*, for which he also began writing serial fiction. His first novel, *A Man from the North*, was published in 1898, the same year he became the editor of *Woman*. In 1900 he left the magazine and moved to Hockliffe, Bedfordshire, to become a full-time writer. In 1903 he moved to join the artist community in Paris, where he wrote several novels and plays. In 1908 he published *The Old Wives' Tale*, which was a best-seller. He visited to America in 1911 on a much-publicized trip. His excellent detective fiction includes *The Loot of Cities* (1905), six stories about Cecil Thorold, a rogue-detective millionaire "in search of joy' and not above blackmail and theft to corral his criminals. [Leslie S. Klinger, *In the Shadow of Sherlock Holmes* (2011)] During World War I he was Director of Propaganda for France at the Ministry of Information. He refused a knighthood in 1918. In 1922 he separated from his French wife and fell in love with the actress Dorothy Cheston, with whom he stayed for the rest of his life. He died of typhoid at his home in London in 1931.
3.5
The Old Wives' Tale With Preface by the Author (Aziloth Books)
Arnold Bennett was born in England's heavily industrialised 'Potteries' district (his fictional 'Five Towns'), leaving for London in 1898, aged 21. Following the success of his first novel, in 1903 he moved to that mecca for all things avant-garde and artistic - Paris.
Bennett was drawn to the French literary styles of naturalism and realism, evolving a brilliant synthesis of the two techniques that he uses with such effect in The Old Wives' Tales. In his journal, he speaks of having been inspired to write the novel by observing an old lady in a café in Paris and, looking past the rather uninspiring picture she presented, he thought of how her life might have been lived and the youthful aspirations and disappointments that she may have experienced.
By turns sombre, uplifting and thought-provoking, the story follows the lives of two sisters, the adventurous, unconventional Sophia, and Constance, her more dour and custom-bound sibling. Sophia elopes with her lover to Paris, is ultimately abandoned by him, and survives the bloody uprising of the Paris Commune to establish a thriving boarding house. Constance never leaves her family home, marries locally, has a child, and continues the family business.
In their declining years the sisters are brought together again and, despite their different paths, they share in their own ways the pride, pathos and banality of life - and their love for each other.
FictionClassicsLiterarySmall Town & Rural
RELEASED2016
PUBLISHERAziloth Books
LENGTH408
LANGUAGEEN
Enoch Arnold Bennett was an English novelist, playwright, and journalist, whose novels and plays generally reflected middle-class life in north Staffordshire. He was born in Hanley, Staffordshire (which is now Stoke-on-Trent), the son of a solicitor. He was educated in Newcastle-under-Lyme. After school, he worked for his father, and in his spare time he was a journalist. At age twenty-one, he moved to London to work as a solicitor's clerk. In 1889 he won a writing competition in *Tit-Bits* magazine and decided to become a full-time journalist. In 1894, he became assistant editor of the periodical *Woman*, for which he also began writing serial fiction. His first novel, *A Man from the North*, was published in 1898, the same year he became the editor of *Woman*. In 1900 he left the magazine and moved to Hockliffe, Bedfordshire, to become a full-time writer. In 1903 he moved to join the artist community in Paris, where he wrote several novels and plays. In 1908 he published *The Old Wives' Tale*, which was a best-seller. He visited to America in 1911 on a much-publicized trip. His excellent detective fiction includes *The Loot of Cities* (1905), six stories about Cecil Thorold, a rogue-detective millionaire "in search of joy' and not above blackmail and theft to corral his criminals. [Leslie S. Klinger, *In the Shadow of Sherlock Holmes* (2011)] During World War I he was Director of Propaganda for France at the Ministry of Information. He refused a knighthood in 1918. In 1922 he separated from his French wife and fell in love with the actress Dorothy Cheston, with whom he stayed for the rest of his life. He died of typhoid at his home in London in 1931.
