A tale of the Potteries - Rated 
Arnold Bennett was one of the major chroniclers of the Five Towns (there are in fact six). This simple tale explores issues of class and gender in the Potteries at the turn of the century - it is NOT about an impoverished pottery worker but has some fascinating insights into ceramic production processes. A very good read
Very dry but strangely absorbing and memorable - Rated 
This is a tightly knit story of the destructive forces of evangelism and industrial expansion in a small community. There is much here to enjoy and Bennett paints a detailed picture of Anna's life in the town. There is an understated charm to the writing but it does sometimes result in potentially dramatic moments feeling rather underwhelming. Bennett touches on many areas of interest - social history, a woman's place in the world, ones duty to ones parents, religious piety and constraint - although he does not really explore any of these in great depth. For all the commentary on the period and the place, this is essentially one woman's story.
In all honesty, I found Anna a heroine difficult to engage with, particularly in the early part of the story. Her tendency to beat herself up for the feelings stirred in her by Henry Mynors were extraordinarily irritating - for a 21-year-old girl she seemed remarkably immature, even given her strict upbringing.
Unlike, say, Jane Austen's Elizabeth Bennett, Anna Tellwright is the very antithesis of a modern heroine. She struggles against her sense of duty and in the end gives in to it. The fact that Anna does not follow her heart on realising that she loves Willie, and her decision to marry a man she now realises that she not love, makes for a very unsatisfying and frustrating ending.
The struggle of a woman to express herself - Rated
This is the second of Bennett's novels that I have read, both of which are tragic and somewhat pedestrian. Despite this I find them strangely appealing.
Bennett writes about the social history of the Staffordshire pottery towns he knows with great sympathy and an eye for detail. The quarrels of social status and church, business and morality, men and women are all depicted meticulously. The story arc, particularly here, seems secondary to the need to show us the daily reality of people's lives.
Anna is a young woman struggling to find her own life and voice within the confines of a small town, pitted against a dictatorial church and a miserly father. Marriage is her only way out and she is pushed into a match which shows her struggle between duty and misplaced passion.
Bennett, like Dickens documents social inequalities, but unlike Dickens he often portrays the mindset and struggles of young women, which is interesting and illuminating.
Dull and Dry but Addictive - Rated
Anna Of The Five Towns is often dull, but the emotional arc makes it compulsive reading. Unfortunately this doesn't pay off, as the ending feels empty.
Anna and her sister Agnes live under the strict rule of their cold-hearted and miserly father. On Anna's birthday she comes into her fortune, but remains controlled by her father. One of the properties she owns is a works run by Titus Price and his son Willie, and Anna watches, morally pained, as her father rightfully but cruelly extracts money from these men. Meanwhile, Anna is courted by Henry Mynors, makes friends with the cream of society Suttons, and seeks a stronger faith in God.
Bennett's descriptions are excellent, a skill I find lacking in most authors, but he struggles with plot and character. Sometimes the detail is so heavy that it slips into present tense, and has nothing to do with the characters at all. Characters will often have long dull conversations about money, duty or tea, and while I believe the characters would be discussing this if they were real, it isn't relevant in the fiction.
In Frank Swinnerton's introduction to the novel, he says, `Bennett admitted that at first he had difficulty in gaining even `a dim vision' of some of the characters.' At first? This is clearly still at fault. Bennett's dry and emotionless style swamps the characters, who never become much more than names. They never reveal other layers that I assumed must be lurking and were going to go somewhere in the conclusion. No characters feel or sound real, or have convincing emotions. They are all wrapped in cotton wool, disconnected from the world. Bennett often states character personalities through flashback and statements, but doesn't show them, so these can be hard to believe. Beatrice Sutton appears to be the comedy character, and only exists as this device, almost as if Bennett was told he needed to add some comedy.
Swinnerton writes that `The strength...of Anna of the Five Towns lies in its sincerity and freedom from pretentiousness.' I don't see this as strength. Sincerity and freedom from pretentiousness can be used to describe children, and are hardly praiseworthy attributes in an adult's piece of fiction. Bennett's writing style is very dry and failed to interest or grip me. What kept me reading was the horrific curiosity to discover what was the approaching tragedy continually hinted at.
Bennett refers to Anna Of The Five Towns as `a sermon against parental tyranny', and much of the book is indeed focused on this theme. However, the blurb gives away what is really important, which spoils the story as this doesn't become apparent until the penultimate page (and is a bit late). With hindsight, I can see that the hints and plot developments were heading for the conclusion, but while I was reading it this was not apparent, and other plot strands that are not tied up seemed far more important. Developments that lead to the conclusion are constantly hinted at and yet never truly exist in the story. So the ending, when it turns out what the oft-mentioned inevitable tragedy is, didn't bother me. What about the important themes of the book? While the ending-relevant stuff is subtle, and subtlety is good, Anna Of The Five Towns doesn't satisfy, because it ends on only that and ignores everything else. Looking back, everything else now feels like a waste of my time, meaning I have no desire to read it again.
This edition comes with a mildly interesting introduction by Frank Swinnerton, written in 1953. It doesn't really seem to have a point, but it enlightened me on a few things, as I knew nothing of Bennett before I read it. As for the cover illustration of five girls skipping in a circle near some factories, well it doesn't really conjure the book and its potato-print style actually made me assume the book was boring, if you go by judging books by their covers, which is the whole point of covers. And it was quite boring.
Real life 100 years ago - Rated 
Like other reviewers, I didn't expect that much from this book. I only bought it because Bennett's work was praised in BBC4's Edwardian series. I found it truly absorbing. The ending lingers with me and I'll remember the characters for a long time. It's the first Arnold Bennett book I've read and I'll definitely search out some more of his work.
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