Description
The series of books known as The Clayhanger Family was written around 1910 by British author and journalist Enoch Arnold Bennett. The series, although widely known as a trilogy, actually contains four of Bennett’s best novels revolving around Edwin Clayhanger and his family – which Hilda Lessways is a part of. Hilda Lessways is the second book of the series, presenting Edwin’s story from the unique perspective of his wife.This second volume of the Clayhanger Family stories finds the future wife of Edwin Clayhanger during her youth, and follows her own story of coming of age, after the first volume speaks of Edwin’s takeover of his family business and marriage and complex relationship with his family.Fans of Bennett’s first Clayhanger novel, entitled simply Clayhanger, will enjoy a completely unique perspective on the initial story. Hilda Lessways is presented as a young lady starting out as a shorthand clerk and the keeper of a lodging house in Brighton and London during the Victorian Era. Her struggle to the top of an unforgiving Victorian society is shown in striking contrast with her relationship intrigues, particularly those surrounding Edwin Clayhanger and George Cannon.Although it comes after Clayhanger, the story in Hilda Lessways is set concurrently with the first novel. The setting is the familiar environment of Bennett’s “5 towns,” an alternate version of the six towns from “the Potteries.”According to many critics and readers who have dissected the book throughout the past century, Hilda Lessways is an even more accomplished novel than its prequel. The intelligent and independent Hilda takes charge as main character here, and is portrayed as one of the most impressive and believable female heroines of Victorian literature.
Product ID: 9781776667253
Sku: SI-QHKG-4ICC
