Leonora (Barnes & Noble Digital Library)

By Arnold Bennett

Scathingly reviewed by some at the time of its publication in 1903 because of its subject matter, Bennett's third novel, Leonora, is the love story of a middle-aged woman. In response to his critics, Bennett later recorded in his preface to The Old Wives Tale, that he intended the book to be a protest against the “absurd youthfulness, the unfading youthfulness of the average heroine.”

• Language: English
• Publisher: Barnes & Noble
• Release date: Dec 5, 2011
• ISBN: 9781411463592

Arnold Bennett

Arnold Bennett (1867–1931) was an English novelist renowned as a prolific writer throughout his entire career. The most financially successful author of his day, he lent his talents to numerous short stories, plays, newspaper articles, novels, and a daily journal totaling more than one million words.

Reviews for Leonora (Barnes & Noble Digital Library)

[starbox_2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

"These five antagonistic preoccupied souls and their different affairs",, 11 October 2015This review is from: Leonora: A Novel (The Collected Works of Arnold Bennett) (Hardcover)Verified Purchase(What is this?)Set, like most of Bennett's work, in the Five Towns, this is the story of lovely 40-year old Leonora Stanway. Mother to three very different daughters: one studious, one romantic and one planning a future on the stage, she is also wife of the unsympathetic John Stanway.Their middle class life is settled, although as Leonora sees her daughters bloom, she regrets what her life has become, married to a man who is "perfectly insensible to all spiritual significances."And then into their lives comes American Mr Twemlow. Son of John Stanway's former business partner, he has come to investigate whether John has swindled his family.Meanwhile elderly Uncle Meshach has re-written his will...Not up to the standard of 'The Old Wives' Tale' or 'Riceyman Steps' but an entertaining novel that keeps you reading.