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A review by abi_sarah
Anna of the Five Towns by Arnold Bennett
emotional
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
It was ok
I don’t usually read books that are this old, so I can’t say it was an easy read since it took me a while to get used to the writing style. Once I got into it though, I quite enjoyed the simplicity of Anna’s life and I feel like I learned a lot about the lives of women in the early 1900s.
Here are some of my thoughts I jotted down whilst I was reading ‘Anna of the Five Towns’
• Like Bridgerton but more legit
• I feel like I’m living it through the writing and the story feels more realistic than I expect a Bridgerton novel would be
• It’s actually quite fascinating reading about how women lived in the early 1900s - Anna’s priorities as a woman are quite basic and sometimes quite shocking, but also very modern, e.g. her father teaches her how to become a landlord and I found that so refreshing to read about - I wonder if that was common for the times, or if Anna would have been a rare case
• It also struck me that women were basing their social worth on the quality of the bakes they took to the markets/ fayres - I’m glad women have evolved to understand the value of their worth a lot more deeply!
• At times, Anna was so fickle as to let the words/ perceived thoughts of a man/ love interest prevent her from doing things that would bring her joy - I found this infuriating
• I found Anna’s relationship with her sister very poignant, the two of them and their mother must have formed extremely strong bonds of companionship with one another whilst being left by the men to keep the house
• When Anna left for the Isle of Man it must have been extremely scary for her, on a new type of transport over a seemingly endless mass of the deepest water they had ever crossed - it must have taken so much courage to step on that boat
• The emotional and hormonal response to the parentally controlled match making perfectly punctuated Anna’s personality as a young woman, showing her spiky and less “proper” tendencies - I liked this, it gave Anna more character and it was a large contributor to my liking of her as the protagonist
• Anna and Mynors’ courting was nothing short of awkward and forced. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for both of them the whole time, for Anna was trying so hard to become a “good wife” and do what she was told to maintain the good reputation of her family, whilst Mynors knew that Anna’s heart lat elsewhere yet still pursued the match
• I welcomed the scandal at around 85% - it was almost too little too late though! A scandal was next on the list for this kind of story, so I can’t say I was surprised to be reading about Anna’s straying from the life of a “good wife-to-be” but it was entertaining and set up the ending of the story well
Overall enjoyed it
⭐️⭐️⭐️
I don’t usually read books that are this old, so I can’t say it was an easy read since it took me a while to get used to the writing style. Once I got into it though, I quite enjoyed the simplicity of Anna’s life and I feel like I learned a lot about the lives of women in the early 1900s.
Here are some of my thoughts I jotted down whilst I was reading ‘Anna of the Five Towns’
• Like Bridgerton but more legit
• I feel like I’m living it through the writing and the story feels more realistic than I expect a Bridgerton novel would be
• It’s actually quite fascinating reading about how women lived in the early 1900s - Anna’s priorities as a woman are quite basic and sometimes quite shocking, but also very modern, e.g. her father teaches her how to become a landlord and I found that so refreshing to read about - I wonder if that was common for the times, or if Anna would have been a rare case
• It also struck me that women were basing their social worth on the quality of the bakes they took to the markets/ fayres - I’m glad women have evolved to understand the value of their worth a lot more deeply!
• At times, Anna was so fickle as to let the words/ perceived thoughts of a man/ love interest prevent her from doing things that would bring her joy - I found this infuriating
• I found Anna’s relationship with her sister very poignant, the two of them and their mother must have formed extremely strong bonds of companionship with one another whilst being left by the men to keep the house
• When Anna left for the Isle of Man it must have been extremely scary for her, on a new type of transport over a seemingly endless mass of the deepest water they had ever crossed - it must have taken so much courage to step on that boat
• The emotional and hormonal response to the parentally controlled match making perfectly punctuated Anna’s personality as a young woman, showing her spiky and less “proper” tendencies - I liked this, it gave Anna more character and it was a large contributor to my liking of her as the protagonist
• Anna and Mynors’ courting was nothing short of awkward and forced. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for both of them the whole time, for Anna was trying so hard to become a “good wife” and do what she was told to maintain the good reputation of her family, whilst Mynors knew that Anna’s heart lat elsewhere yet still pursued the match
• I welcomed the scandal at around 85% - it was almost too little too late though! A scandal was next on the list for this kind of story, so I can’t say I was surprised to be reading about Anna’s straying from the life of a “good wife-to-be” but it was entertaining and set up the ending of the story well
Overall enjoyed it
⭐️⭐️⭐️