The old Wives' Tale Hardcover – August 12, 2015

FIRST LINE REVIEW: "Those two girls, Constance and Sophia Baines, paid no heed to the manifold interest of their situation, of which, indeed, they had never been conscious." Such a telling opening line for a beautifully rich, lovingly told history of the Baines sisters -- two women who never really seemed to be in tune with their world/situation. Bennett has crafted an epic tale that is funny, heart-breaking and quite profound in it's deep understanding of humanity. Highly recommended!

Inasmuch as I’m a sucker for credible characters, I loved this book. Amazing to me that Bennett relies solely on his insight and clarity to keep readers connected to the book. For example, he never dwells on death for more than a sentence or two. Compare Jo’s death in Bleak House. Nor does he make a Trollope-like effort to be humorous. Yet, he rivets.The book asks, What constitutes a successful life. Constance, the stay-at-home sister, thinks Sophia, the adventurous sister, had a wasted life; Sophia’s view of Constance’s life is roughly the same. The underlying agenda is that people use what their genes and environment give them to use—both sisters used their tools rather effectively, which, at least in my mind, spells success. True that Sophia made an awful mistake in her choice of a spouse, a mistake she augmented by being too proud to return home and admit her error.Neither sister ends spectacularly; both end, I think, worthily and certainly credibly.

This is an engaging novel of Victorian attitudes and of well-developed characters, but with some unexpected plot turns and polite intimations of real-life conduct. Arnold Bennett's background in journalism gave him a good ear for believable dialogue, and his dry wit surfaces regularly. The story of two sisters who separate, lead very different but also difficult lives, then reunite for a melancholy but not maudlin last act deserves its long-standing place in the ranks of craftsmanlike novels with broad appeal. The writer's sympathies clearly lie with women trapped in trying circumstances--the only really decent male character disappears in a balloon while attempting to flee besieged Paris in the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War--but the book has much to interest readers regardless of gender.

There is a lot to this ambitious book. It is surprising it's not better known. Perhaps Bennett was too old-fashioned and commercial, and got a not-really-literary rap. Some sections flag, but there are also more vivid and insightful moments, more keen observations, more deft presentations of psychology, more humane comprehension of failings, more concrete presentations of practical affairs, than space permits discussing here. Worthwhile!

This is a beautiful book. Tracing the full arc of two human lives, it should be read by everyone who is at that earlier stage in life's journey where its final stages seem impossibly distant. Yes, the ending is sad - or is it? Don't we all come to that final point? And isn't there a kind of richness in having experienced the journey? Because really, "that's all there is."Of course we also get the marvellously detailed picture of the world towards the end of the 19th century: the social framework, the customs and shared understanding of behavior, the physical setting of the unglamorous towns of the western Midlands, and how they too changed over the years, and the "City of Light." How does anyone achieve that incredibly full and in-depth imaginative re-creation? But above all, the poignancy of the complete separation of two sisters for most of their lives; the stay-at-home in the drapery shop and house in Bursley, and the daring young woman who elopes with Gerald to Paris and what became of that...Incidentally, I really liked his trick to remind us when conversations are in French - he gives the English as a literal translation, retaining the French syntax. Neat.Not everyone, in today's frenetic world, will be able to settle in to the leisurely pace of "The Old Wives' Tale." But if you can, I believe you will be very moved by it.

I found this book by searching online for authors to check out "if you like Edith Wharton," since I was coming off a binge of Wharton novels and was looking for something new but that embodied some of the characteristics that makes me love her works.I have to laugh then dismiss any recommendations that start with Henry James. This to me is a very superficial recommendation. Reading a work of Wharton's is like having a flowing conversation with someone who possesses astonishing perspicacity, wisdom and a great dry sense of humor. Reading a page of Henry James for this reader is like trying to swim across a pool of oatmeal.Happily one site recommeded Bennett and this work really hit the mark. The same description I applied to Wharton above fits this author as well. Wharton delivers a bit more of each characteristic, but what a high standard for comparison. Great novel that resonates timelessly.The edition appears to have been printed on demand-- it bears a date exactly one day after I placed my order! The quality is not bad, but it is really an edition for immediate consumption rather than something to keep in one's personal library for decades. For the price however, it's a better value than some of the other editions I've received from this type of publisher.

While this does appear to be the book in full, the print in so small that with my contacts in, I still have to hold it unusually close to my face. I would suggest buying a different copy, unless they note somewhere that the print is now much larger than what looks to be point 7.

Almost 200 pages of text that has a font size of 2! Or basically the size of a foot note! It’s impossible to read! Never thought I’d burn a book but......this edition is only good for getting the fireplace going!

If you want a rattling good saga with characters whose lives and aspirations are strangely contemporary, despite being set against the history and society of a bygone age, this one is for you. I'll admit the first few pages were a little like wading through mud, but Bennett more than makes up for this when, at last, the setting is well and truly established and the story of the Baines family begins!The local period detail of Bursley, one of ‘the five towns’ is, eventually, engrossing, as is the wider historical perspective of the German siege of Paris in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 – 1871. Bennett’s irony is at its best in his observations of the latter, in the light of his character’s almost total ignorance of what is happening at the end of the Parisian street she lives in.The tale largely follows the lives of the Baines sisters. One stays put in Bursley and one finds herself transplanted by unforeseen circumstance to Paris and a personal history that demands an impressive level of ingenuity and business acumen in order for her to survive her fate. Each of the sisters sees the world from an entirely individual viewpoint, which begins with youthful positivity and ambition and develops by stages to a more reflective evaluation of what has come to pass.What kept me gripped was the episodic nature of the story – Bennett leads his reader an interesting dance. I also loved the skilled depiction of Bursley – the gradual breaking up of its traditions and the dawning of industrialisation. And finally, the sheer likeability of the sisters with their underlying empathy for each other despite their very substantial differences.Highly recommended.Note: Like many classics, this book is free for kindle.

The elder of two Staffordshire sisters remains in the house she was born in, while the younger elopes with a ne’er-do-well and lives through the 1870 siege of Paris before eventually returning to her roots. The story is absorbing, often funny and (despite a few annoyances) beautifully written. I’m not a fan of omniscient narrator, but in skilled hands it’s an enjoyable change from ‘show don’t tell’. A Radio 4 programme hailed ‘The Old Wives’ Tale’ as a forgotten masterpiece by a writer hugely popular in his life but sadly now overlooked. Yes, it is a masterpiece. I think the reason it has been forgotten is that the plot lacks an ‘elevator pitch’, being simply (but always engagingly) the passage of time and sequence of absorbing incidents in two people’s lives, and the gradual evolution of the world they inhabit. Bennett brilliantly chronicles the changing relationships between the provincial middle classes and their domestic servants. The inexorable decline of Bursley’s retail trade over the decades is horribly similar to the death of today’s high streets. And he writes exquisitely from the point of view of pet dogs, ending the whole novel thus: “When the ... funeral procession started, Mary [servant] and Fossette [old dog] were left alone in the house. The tearful servant prepared the dog’s dinner and laid it before her in the customary soup-plate in the customary corner. Fossette sniffed at it, and then walked away and lay down with a dog’s sigh in front of the kitchen fire. She had been deranged in her habits that day: she was conscious of neglect, due to events which passed her comprehension. And she did not like it. She was hurt, and her appetite was hurt. However, after a few minutes, she began to reconsider the matter. She glanced at the soup-plate, and, on the chance that it might after all contain something worth inspection, she awkwardly balanced herself on her old legs and went to it again.”

A classic Arnold Bennett novel that plots the life of a shop owning family and it's members life over an extended period of their history.Bennett is a master creating credible but colourful characters in everyday settings that everyone can relate to. He is also adept at the sudden twist and shock in the plot.As ever the only disappointment from the book is when you finish reading it - the characters will have become so alive for the reader.

My favourite Arnold Bennet. Written from a female perspective the words are fluid and meaningful yet endearing and page-turning. Bennett takes us the Stoke on Trent at the turn of the century and the reader will feel as though they are actually walking the streets of the five-towns at a time when the pottery industry was emerging. I love this book.

Brilliant book. Rereading it, as first read it as a teenager. Now in my 60's it means even more as all life is there. The small importances that we all have, Arnold Bennett does so well. Also the combination of pathos and humour which is in all great works is here in abundance. The scenes of the execution were so real that when I looked up I was surprised to find myself in the 21st century as the 19th had absorbed me completely.