The Old Wives Tale

By: Arnold Bennett

Narrated by: Eileen Atkins

Spanning nearly half a century, The Old Wives Tale is epic in scale and scope, tracing as it does the effects of time on two sisters and their surroundings. The novel is a domestic story told with tenderness, and is concerned not with heroic statesmen or soldiers, but with small details of daily life in a way which demonstrates Bennett’s great debt to french realist writers. The action is concentrated mainly within the provincial town of Bursley, a startling contrast to Paris where Sophia and Gerald elope.

©2011 Talking Classics (P)2011 Copyright Group

Nothing To It

The performance was fine, but the story was short, dull, and read like a summary of what should have been a much longer and more interesting tale While the author had some descriptions and turns of phrase that rang true, overall it was like reading a very lengthy obituary. I'm not usually overly judgemental, but I cannot recommend this.