Page Turners – April 2024 review

The Page Turners book for April was ‘Anna of the Five Towns‘ by Arnold Bennett which was published in 1902. We found this book to be engaging and interesting.

Anna lives in one of the pottery towns around Stoke-on-Trent with her twice widowed miserly father and her younger step-sister. When she turns twenty one she discovers she has a large inheritance from her grandmother but her father has invested it and does not allow her to access it. Despite her misgivings, he forces her to take actions that contribute to the bankruptcy and suicide of a local businessman operating from a property she owns. After a short courtship, facilitated by a local couple who have decided she would make a suitable friend for their daughter, Anna accepts a proposal of marriage from another local businessman. The book ends, far too abruptly for us, as they are preparing for their marriage, leaving us with so many unanswered questions.

As always the book gave us a lead into discussions on a variety of topics. We discussed the nature of courtship in the time of the book, in our day and in the modern world and even touched on arranged marriages. We talked about how young people learn a pattern of behaviour from their parents and wondered what sort of wife Anna would become. We thought about the role of the church in the late Victorian society of the book and in our own lives. Finally, we recounted our own experiences of Stoke-on-Trent.

As always, we hope we might encourage you to read this book. We have copies to share so do get in touch if you would like to swap our page turner for one of your own.

Deborah Wallis, convenor