20 Dec Arnold Bennett

Arnold Bennett was born in 1867 in Hanley, Staffordshire and is permanently linked with that area of England (popularly known as the Potteries). His most famous novel, Anna of the Five Towns (1902), draws on his experience of the Potteries. Other noteworthy books include The Old Wives’ Tale (1908) and The Card (1911). The latter was adapted as a movie starring the marvelous Alec Guinness (1952), titled The Promoter for American audiences.

Bennett died in London in 1931 at the age of 63. His ashes are buried in Burslem Cemetery in the Potteries. Nearby, outside the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery in Hanley, there’s a striking bronze statue showing Bennett seated and reading The Card. In London you could visit the Savoy Hotel and enjoy, as Bennett himself enjoyed, an omelette which was named Omelette Arnold Bennett in the writer’s honor.