The Five Towns

Set in stifled, industrial Staffordshire in the late 19th century, against a strong evangelical background, Anna of the Five Towns tells of the courting of hard businessman Ephraim Tellright's daughter by prosperous and accomplished Henry Mynors. As her father's fortune grows, so does Anna understanding. She realises her legacy and responsibility for the possible ruination of her father's tenants, Titus Price and his son, Willie, who also loves her.

This is a selection of short stories recounting, with gentle satire and tolerant good humour, the small town provincial life at the end of the nineteenth century, based around the six towns in the county of Staffordshire, England, known as the Potteries. Arnold Bennett chose to fictionalize these towns by changing their names and omitting one (Fenton) as he apparently felt that "Five Towns" was more euphonious than "Six Towns".

The Old Wives' Tale is broken up into four parts, and the lives of two sisters are laid bare: one timid and unassuming, the other romantic and adventurous. From working as children in their family's drapery shop to their later years, Constance and Sophia's journey through life could not be more different. While one travels the world and defies male expectations, the other becomes a dutiful wife and mother.

"The Old Wives' Tale" is a novel by Arnold Bennett, first published in 1908. It deals with the lives of two very different sisters, Constance and Sophia Baines, following their stories from their youth, working in their mother's draper's shop, into old age. It is regarded as one of Bennett's finest works. The story covers a period of about 70 years from roughly 1840 to 1905, and is set in Burslem and Paris.

Arnold Bennett's... splendidly comic portrayal of Edward Henry Machin, known as Denry to his mother to save time, is set in Bursley, one of the author's Five Towns of Staffordshire. Starting in 1897, when Denry first saw the smoke of the potbanks, the tale chronicles his rise to fame and wealth including such events as improving his exam results to guarantee success, adjusting the guest list of the municipal ball to include himself and then daring to ask the Countess of Chell to dance!

"The Card" is a comic novel written by Arnold Bennett. Like many of Bennett's best works, it is set in the Potteries District of Staffordshire. It chronicles the rise of Edward Henry ("Denry") Machin from washerwoman's son to Mayor of Bursley (a fictitious town based on Burslem).

Written in 1911, The Card is the story of Edward Henry (Denry) Machin, who rises from washerwoman's son to the Mayor of Bursley (Burslem in the Potteries town of Stoke-on-Trent) via a mixture of gentle deceit and personal hype. He is literally a trickster of confidence. His rise to fame is begun at an exclusive ball to which he has got himself invited, where he has the audacity to claim a dance with the glamourous but imposing Countess of Chell.

"The Card" is a comic novel by Arnold Bennett, published in 1911. Like much of Bennett's best work, it is set in the Potteries District of Staffordshire. It chronicles the rise of Edward Henry ("Denry") Machin from washerwoman's son to Mayor of Bursley (a fictitious town based on Burslem). This is accomplished through luck, initiative and a fair bit of guts!

"The Matador of the Five Towns and Other Stories" is a collection written by English writer Arnold Bennett (1867-1931). It was first published in 1912. These satirical stories draw on the author's experience of life in the Potteries, as did most of his best work. This collection includes 22 tales of life in the five pottery manufacturing towns of Staffordshire.

The Matador of the Five Towns and Other Stories consists of twenty-two short stories written by Arnold Bennett, their main setting being the pottery manufacturing towns of the English midlands.

Denry Machin is now in his forties and begins to feel that he is getting old, that making money and a happy home life are not enough for him and that he has lost his touch as the entrepreneur and entertainer of the 'Five Towns'.

"The Regent" or "A towns story of adventure in London" is a story about London's upper class society in the Victorian era. The protagonist Edward Henry is a self-made successful entrepreneur, a "nouveau riche". He is a charming and clever man, but unfortunately with no artistic taste. Despite his wealth and accomplished political influence, he becomes bored in the small town so he heads up to London in order to get back into the competitive and exciting "game" of business.