Bennett, (Enoch) Arnold 1867-1931
English novelist

Born near Hanley, Staffordshire, the son of a solicitor, he was educated locally and at London University. He became a solicitor's clerk in London, but soon took up journalism, and in 1893 became assistant editor (editor in 1896) of the journal Woman. He published his first novel, The Man from the North, in 1898. In 1902 he moved to Paris, where he lived for 10 years, and from then on was engaged exclusively in journalistic and creative writing. His claims to recognition as a novelist rest mainly on the early Anna of the Five Towns (1902), the more celebrated The Old Wives' Tale (1908), and the Clayhanger series - Clayhanger (1910), Hilda Lessways (1911), These Twain (1916), subsequently issued (1925) as The Clayhanger Family - in all of which novels the 'Five Towns', centres of the pottery industry, feature not only as background, but almost as dramatis personae. He excelled again with Riceyman Steps (1923), a picture of drab life in London, and his genial, humorous streak shows in works like The Card (1911), The Grand Babylon Hotel (1902), Imperial Palace (1930), and the play The Great Adventure (1913). Lord Raingo (1926) is a political novel. The play Milestones (1912), written in collaboration with Edward Knoblock, was much performed. He was a sound and influential critic, and as 'Jacob Tonson' on The New Age he was a discerning reviewer. His Journals, written in the manner of the brothers Edmond and Jules de Goncourt, were published posthumously.

Bibliography: M Drabble, Arnold Bennett: a biography (1974)