First published in 1908, The Old Wives' Tale affirms the integrity of ordinary lives as it tells the story of the Baines sisters--shy, retiring Constance and defiant, romantic Sophia--over the course of nearly half a century. Bennett traces the sisters' lives from childhood in their father's drapery shop in provincial Bursley, England, during the mid-Victorian era, through their married lives, to the modern industrial age, when they are reunited as old women. The setting moves from the Five Towns of Staffordshire to exotic and cosmopolitan Paris, while the action moves from the subdued domestic routine of the Baines household to the siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War.

The Old Wives Tale was first published in 1908, and could be referred to as Bennett’s masterpiece. It is the story of 2 sisters, Sophia and Constance. Sophia is beautiful, strong willed, adventurous, and courageous, and Constance is plain, humble, obedient, and cautious. The opening scene: their home in a small town in England. Sophia and Constance are in their teens, sharing a cozy afternoon; young, innocent, playful, and oblivious of their future. We follow their lives, spanning nearly 50 years, and the genius of the tale is not the plot, but the philosophical message, the intense reality of everyone’s mortality. E. M. Forster, speaking of the sisters, made the cynical comment, “They are doomed to decay with a completeness that is very rare in literature.”

My husband often watches the Biography channel on TV. And I always tell him I don’t like to watch with him because every story has such a sad ending. Everyone gets old and dies! Well, reading this book is like watching the Biography channel. The only difference is that this story is about 2 ordinary women and their joys and sorrows, accomplishments and disappointments. The plot takes some unexpected twists and turns, and just like real life, things do not always work out the way they intended. Max Beerbohm put it most eloquently, “it’s about the passing of time, about the stealthy merging of youth into age, the invisibility of the traps in our own characters into which we walk unwary, unknowing.”

Both Sophia and Constance are genuine characters. They could have been your grandmother, your mother, your aunt or your sister. They could have been me, or you. They both had strengths and weaknesses, virtues and flaws. And they both had hopes and dreams. We watch them each take a different path in life; marriage, children, work. And we witness the external changes that occur during their lifetime; war, politics, business, society, attitudes, manners, everything that makes up a lifetime of memories. And we watch them age.

I loved this book. It gave me a greater appreciation for those that came before me. It made me think about what is important in life. It helped me put things in perspective. The Old Wives Tale is a timeless classic. ( )

Arnold Bennett's The Old Wives' Tale is a good, but not great, novel about the lives led by two women from a small town in England. While he writes with both a high degree of realism and historical accuracy there are moments, especially in the opening chapters, that test the reader's patience. His devotion to the quotidian details of everyday life does not always rise to the level of interest, even when presented well by a master prose stylist. Our Lincoln Park Book Group discussed this novel this evening and concluded that Bennett succeeded in his attempt at realism and that the characters, particularly the two sisters, Sophia and Constance, had depth and believability.

Bennett's ability to successfully develop believable female characters with the protagonists is one of the best aspects of this novel. His realistic style compares favorably with William Dean Howells whose novel, The Rise of Silas Lapham, also demonstrates a sensitive portrayal of women. I found that the novel became more interesting as each of the four sections unfolded, ultimately becoming a satisfying portrayal of small town life during the end of the Victorian era. ( )

The Old Wives Tale follows two sisters, Constance and Sophia as they age. It begins in the 1860s when the girls are teens. One sister stays home in the middle of England, while the other is in Paris. Their lives are affected by the changes due to the industrial revolution.

This book reminded me a lot of Dreiser. I think Bennett would be considered a realist. Also, I liked the preface because Bennett explains the life experience that gave him the idea for the book. ( )