Sign-In
Cart
The Old Wives' Tale: With preface by the author (Aziloth Books)
Paperback
Classic FictionGeneral FictionLiterary Fiction
ISBN13: 9781911405146
Publisher: Aziloth Books
Published: Nov 2 2016
Pages: 408
Weight: 1.25
Height: 0.84 Width: 6.14 Depth: 9.21
Language: English
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.
27 different editions
Also available
Also in
Classic Fiction
James Fenimore Cooper: The Leatherstocking Tales Vol. 1 (Loa #26): The Pioneers / The Last of the Mohicans / The Prairie
Cooper, James Fenimore
Hardcover
Four Comedies: The Taming of the Shrew, a Midsummer Night's Dream, the Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night
Shakespeare, William
Paperback
The Princess Bride Deluxe Limited Edition: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure
Goldman, William
Paperback
The Fellowship of the Ring: Being the First Part of the Lord of the Rings
Tolkien, J. R. R.
Paperback
The Lord of the Rings Illustrated by the Author: Illustrated by J.R.R. Tolkien
Tolkien, J. R. R.
Hardcover
The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure
Goldman, William
Hardcover
The Pilgrim's Progress: A Readable Modern-Day Version of John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress (Revised and easy-to-read)
Vermilye, Alan
Bunyan, John
Paperback
Frankenstein, Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Shelley, Mary
Stevenson, Robert Louis
Stoker, Bram
Paperback