The five towns are, as ever with Bennett,
the Potteries; Anna is Anna Tellwright and this novel takes us through her eventful
22nd year.
Until now her well-ordered life consisted keeping
house for her widowed father Ephraim, minding her younger half-sister Agnes,
and attending the local Wesleyan Chapel. Not too taxing but pretty dull due to
the miserly and dominating nature of her father.
But now, on her 21st birthday she
comes into her own fortune, left in her mother’s will and tended by Ephraim
until she came of age. Further there is a man on the scene: respectable,
handsome, self-made Henry Mynors who is paying her attention that she is unused
to.
Suddenly she is exposed to the unfamiliar
worlds of business and romance, where her decisions and actions will have
far-reaching consequences. Can she use her new financial independence to break
free of Ephraim’s psychological bullying? Does she love Henry Mynors or is he
just a way out that would only replace parental domination with marital
subservience? What are her true feelings for young Willie Price whose father
owes her money but who stirs her protective instincts?
Because it is Bennett the reading is easy
and the characters and location are authentic. It’s also small town drama. But Bennett’s
other small town dramas have more to them: the Clayhanger trilogy has emotional
depth, passion and pathos and The Old Wives’ Tale is full of sharpness and wit.
Anna Tellwright’s 22nd year may
have been eventful for her but, when the highlight is a fortnight in the Isle
of Man, it’s clearly more thought-provoking than pulse-racing.
No comments:
Post a Comment