The Old Wives' Tale

by Arnold Bennett

"The Old Wives' Tale" by Arnold Bennett is a novel published in 1908. It follows two sisters, Constance and Sophia Baines, from their youth working in their mother's draper's shop through old age. Spanning roughly sixty-five years across Bursley and Paris, their vastly different lives unfold—one sister elopes against her family's wishes while the other remains home. Through personal triumphs and tragedies, including the Siege of Paris and family scandal, the sisters' divergent paths ultimately lead them back to where they began.