Description:
Clayhanger by Arnold Bennett, first published in 1910, tracks Edwin Clayhanger's shift from aspiring architect to printer in four parts, exploring themes of personal identity and societal pressures in a changing world.
Brief description: Enoch Arnold Bennett, better known as Arnold Bennett, was an English author and novelist who made important contributions to literature in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was born on May 27, 1867, in Hanley, Staffordshire. His father, a lawyer, wanted him to become a lawyer like him, but Bennett was more interested in writing. After working at a law office in London for a short period of time, he decided to pursue a career in literature full time, starting in 1900. Bennett produced a large amount of work during his lifetime. He wrote 34 novels, seven volumes of short stories, 13 plays, and a daily journal of over a million words. Apart from his novels and plays, he also wrote articles and stories for more than 100 newspapers and periodicals. This made him one of the most financially successful British authors of his time. Bennett's life was cut short when he got typhoid fever and passed away in 1931. He contracted it from drinking tap water during a trip to France. His death marked the end of a productive and influential writing career.
Review Quotes:
Bennett said, "I have written between 70 and 80 books. But also I have written only four: The Old Wives' Tale, The Card, Clayhanger and Riceyman Steps." All the others, he said, were made a reproach to him because they were none of the above. (Ian Jack - 17 Sep 2005 - The Guardian)
Arnold Bennett was a linguistic puzzle. He stammered so badly all his life that he could hardly force out an intelligible sentence. But once he put pen to paper words poured from him. (Patrick Donovan - 6 March 2022 - The Sunday Times)
Edwin Clayhanger, who after some travails marries Hilda, whose own life has been turbulent. Edwin, like Bennett himself, has difficulties with his father, from whom he inherits a printing business in the Potteries. As a picture of provincial life in the late 19th and early 20th century, it is remarkably vivid. (Simon Heffer - 12 January 2016 - The Telegraph)