Arnold Bennett

Arnold Bennett's superb London novel—both a story about one grim household and a panorama of the life of a great city. Henry Earlforward, a shabby Clerkenwell bookseller, has retired from life to devote himself (and his wife Violet) to a consuming passion for money. Miserliness becomes a fatal illness, and Bennett provides a terrifying description of its ravages. However, the...

A young woman used to life under the strict rule of her tyrannical father finds herself on the brink of a new existence. Miserly and mysterious, the richest man in the Five Towns lives simply, ruling his household with an iron fist and a cruel temper. His daughter, Anna, is accustomed to the life of strict, thrifty order imposed by...

Bennett's remarkable sermon against parental tyranny set in the industrial world of early twentieth century England. Against the beautifully evoked backdrop of the Potteries district, the Five Towns—a gossipy community with its prayer meetings, hard physical work, small-minded bigotry and quick condemnation of others—Anna is dominated by her tight-fisted, tyrannical father. She inherits a fortune— with brilliant sympathy, charm and...