- Hardcover
- Publisher: Academy Chicago Pub (February 1980)
- ISBN-10: 0915864800
- ISBN-13: 978-0915864805
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
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Anna of the Five Towns (With an Introduction by John Potter)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Anna of the Five Towns--Bennett's First "Serious" Novel,
By agilicairn (Richmond, VA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Anna of the Five Towns (Everyman's Library) (Paperback)
Described by the prolific author as "my serious novel," _Anna_ is the story of a young woman's struggles to free herself from the oppression of her domineering father. The title character is given a chance to live undreamed-of experiences when she inherits a fortune in properties and business ventures on her 21st birthday. Simultaneously, she finds herself the declared object of affection of one of the town's most desirable men. As her story unfolds, she is attracted to another man, more vulnerable, and must try to resolve many different demands on her sense of duty and her emotions.Set in the early 1900's, Bennett succeeds in evoking a strong sense of place with his fictionalized Five Towns of the Staffordshire Potteries. Critics have praised his full description of Methodism and Methodist church life of the time, as well. Bennett conveys sympathy for his protagonist and portrays the limitations placed on her for her gender without falling into condescension, concluding, "She had sucked in with her mother's milk the profound truth that a woman's life is always a renunciation, greater or less." Anna's attempts to expand herself spiritually and personally, and to gain a sense of personal efficacy, make for an interesting read. However, Bennett violates flagrantly the old writer's adage, "Show not tell," as when we are told repeatedly Anna's father is a miser and a tyrant long before we see him saying or doing anything miserly or tyrannical. Further, anyone looking for an intensely psychological novel with thoughts portrayed as stream of consciousness should be aware that Bennett's style descends from a Realist tradition.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The crushing of Anna Tellwright,
By Bomojaz (South Central PA, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Anna of the Five Towns (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)
When Anna turns 18, she inherits a large sum of money (and property) from her dead mother. Her miserly and cruel father discourages her from spending a penny of it and even forces her to extract high rents from her tenants. As if this weren't enough trouble, she falls in love with Harry Mynors who is only interested in her money. When she realizes this, she has become so used to this kind of treatment that she decides to marry him anyway. Naturalistic and depressing, Bennett portrays his main characters well. Poor Anna--you really feel for her by the end of the book.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bringing The Potteries To Life,
By Vic Heaney ",Author of "Vic's Big Walk"." (Pyrenean Foothills, France) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)
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This review is from: Anna of the Five Towns (Kindle Edition)
Excellent. Arnold Bennett has such a wonderful way of capturing the way people think and speak - or rather as they thought and spoke 100 ago.I used to live in the Stoke on Trent area and am at home with the dialect words and phrases. Also with the area. Arnold Bennett uses slightly fictionalised names for the towns (Bursley instead of Burslem, for instance) and streets (Trafalgar Street instead of Waterloo Road) so anybody familiar with the area knows exactly where his characters live, where they tread. During my recent walk from SW France to NW England (Vic's Big Walk, followed by the book of the same name Vic's Big Walk)I walked the length of Trafalgar/Waterloo and also had a nostalgic mosey around Bursley/Burslem. Anna of the Five Towns is an enjoyable and informative read and also helped me to continue last year's experience.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
The yard was all silent and empty under the burning afternoon heat, which had made its asphalt springy like turf, when suddenly the children threw themselves out of the great doors at either end of the Sunday-school - boys from the right, girls from the left - in two howling, impetuous streams, that widened, eddied, intermingled, and formed backwaters until the whole quadrangle was full of clamour and movement. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
sewing meeting Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Willie Price, Miss Tellwright, Henry Mynors, Titus Price, Five Towns, Miss Dickinson, Isle of Man, Edward Street, Ephraim Tellwright, Manor Terrace, Sarah Vodrey, Port Erin, Toft End, Trafalgar Road, Duck Bank, Tom Kelly, Beatrice Sutton, Miss Vodrey, Port St Mary, Alderman Sutton, Anna Tellwright, Miss Sutton, Miss Terrick New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
The yard was all silent and empty under the burning afternoon heat, which had made its asphalt springy like turf, when suddenly the children threw themselves out of the great doors at either end of the Sunday-school - boys from the right, girls from the left - in two howling, impetuous streams, that widened, eddied, intermingled, and formed backwaters until the whole quadrangle was full of clamour and movement. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
sewing meeting Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Willie Price, Miss Tellwright, Henry Mynors, Titus Price, Five Towns, Miss Dickinson, Isle of Man, Edward Street, Ephraim Tellwright, Manor Terrace, Sarah Vodrey, Port Erin, Toft End, Trafalgar Road, Duck Bank, Tom Kelly, Beatrice Sutton, Miss Vodrey, Port St Mary, Alderman Sutton, Anna Tellwright, Miss Sutton, Miss Terrick New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
71
books
cite this book:
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