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1867-1931
Novelist, playwright, essayist, critic and journalist. Born in Hanley, Staffordshire, the eldest child of a pawnbroker who had bettered himself and become a solicitor. The family moved house several times and lived in Burslem and Middleport. As a result, Arnold went to several schools including the Middle School, Newcastle-under-Lyme. His father wanted him to follow his example and qualify as a solicitor but Arnold failed a crucial university entrance examination. He therefore became a solicitor's clerk, at first in his father's office and, from 1889, in London.
Arnold Bennett had shown early promise as a writer and had won a writing competition in a local newspaper as a boy. In London he began to see his writing published in popular magazines and he joined the staff of Woman magazine in 1893, later becoming its editor. His first novel to be published, A man from the north, appeared in 1898 and its success allowed him to give up other work to concentrate on writing. He lived in Bedfordshire and for eight years, from 1903, in Paris. He married Marguerite Soulié, a French actress, in 1907 and they were to stay together for fourteen years before separating. He never returned to live in Staffordshire, even though he continued to draw inspiration from the area in his work. He died on 27 March 1931 from typhoid shortly after a visit to France. Following his cremation, his ashes were buried in the cemetery at Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent.
A prolific, yet uneven, author, the reputation of Arnold Bennett rests on his thirty novels, and especially those set in the Staffordshire scenery of his childhood, the Potteries. He learned his craft by studying French novels that included intense description and he successfully applied this style in bringing to life the ordinary working lives of many of his characters. His best work can be found in the novels Anna of the Five Towns (1902), The Old Wives' Tale (1908), Clayhanger (1910) and Riceyman Steps (1923), all except the last being set in the Potteries. In his earlier career, Arnold Bennett was also a respected playwright, his interest in the theatre following on from his work as a critic. His most successful play was Milestones, written with Edward Knoblock.
The following works are available in the West Midlands Creative Literature Collection:-
Anna of the five towns
(1902). Novel
Arnold Bennett in love (1972). Correspondence edited and
translated by George and Jean Beardmore
The author's craft (1914)
Body and soul (1922). Play
The bright island (1924). Play
Buried alive (1908)
The card (1911). Novel
The city of pleasure (1907)
Clayhanger (1910).
Novel
Feast of St Friend (1911)
Gates of wrath (1903)
The ghost (1907)
The glimpse (1909). Short story
The Grand Babylon Hotel (1902)
A great man: a frolic (1904)
Helen with the high hand
(1910)
Hilda Lessways (1911)
How to make the best of life (1923)
Imperial palace
(1930)
Journal 1929 (1930)
Journals of Arnold Bennett, three volumes (1932-3)
Judith: a play in three acts (1919)
The lion's share (1916)
Literary taste: how to form it (1909)
A London life (1924). Play
Lord Raingo (1926)
The matador of the Five Towns (1912)
Milestones (1912). Play
The old wives' tale (1908)
Our women (1920)
The plain man and his wife (1913)
Polite farces for the drawing-room (1900)
Price of love (1914)
The Regent (1913)
Riceyman steps
(1923)
The roll-call (1918)
Self and self-management (1918)
The sinews of war (1906)
The strange vanguard (1928)
Teresa of Watling Street (1904)
Things that have interested me (1921)
Truth about an author (1914)
Whom god hath joined (1906)
The complete texts of several of Arnold Bennett's works are available for reading online or downloading free of charge from this website. Please see the full list on the Arnold Bennett e-texts page. In addition, there are introductions and sample chapters for the following:-
Extracts from several of Arnold Bennett's novels where he describes his fictitious town based on Burslem have been gathered together on a page entitled Arnold Bennett's Bursley.
The following works are available in the West Midlands Creative Literature Collection:-
Writer by trade: a view of Arnold Bennett (1966) by
Dudley Barker
Arnold Bennett's five towns origins (1981) by Thomas R.
Roberts
Arnold Bennett; a last word (1978) by Frank
Swinnerton
Arnold Bennett (1967) by John
Wain
For a useful list of fictional names in "The five towns" and their actual location, see Steve Birks www.thepotteries.org site.
The Literary Encyclopedia has a profile of Arnold Bennett by Neil Cartlidge, University College Dublin.
Page created 9 February 2001 and last
updated 6 April 2005.
For your literary enquiries and comments please see the Who to contact page.
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