The Complete Clayhanger Family novels: the first two, Clayhanger and Hilda Lessways, by Arnold Bennett

Bennett’s style of writing takes a while to settle into but his stories and above all his characters are wonderful representations of provincial English life. These stories are about the son of a self-made man, a printer, whose childhood in a workhouse has formed him into a hard businessman determined to succeed. And of course he has. The son is altogether different, educated and arty, but prepared to give up his dream of being an architect and toe the line as he joins the family business. I’ve only read the first two. The first details his childhood, education and entry into the printing world; the second, his success as a businessman, his first flights of love and his tentative standing up to the dominant father. I’ll be back for the others shortly.