The Old Wives' Tale (Bennett)

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The Old Wives' Tale (1908)
by Arnold Bennett

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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 generally regarded as one of Bennett's finest works. It covers a period of about 70 years from roughly 1840 to 1905, and is set in Burslem and Paris. Warning: template has been deprecated.

146517The Old Wives' Tale1908Arnold Bennett

The Old Wives' Tale

Arnold Bennett

To W. W. K.

Preface

BOOK I: MRS. BAINES

Chapter I: The Square
Chapter II: The Tooth
Chapter III: A Battle
Chapter IV: Elephant
Chapter V: The Traveller
Chapter VI: Escapade
Chapter VII: A Defeat

BOOK II: CONSTANCE

Chapter I: Revolution
Chapter II: Christmas and the Future
Chapter III: Cyril
Chapter IV: Crime
Chapter V: Another Crime
Chapter VI: The Widow
Chapter VII: Bricks and Mortar
Chapter VIII: The Proudest Mother

BOOK III: SOPHIA

Chapter I: The Elopement
Chapter II: Supper
Chapter III: An Ambition Satisfied
Chapter IV: A Crisis for Gerald
Chapter V: Fever
Chapter VI: The Siege
Chapter VII: Success

BOOK IV: WHAT LIFE IS

Chapter I: Frensham's
Chapter II: The Meeting
Chapter III: Towards Hotel Life
Chapter IV: End of Sophia
Chapter V: End of Constance

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929.

The longest-living author of this work died in 1931, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 92 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

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