Arnold Bennett has an omelette named after him. ‘Omelette Arnold Bennett’ comprises smoked haddock, cream, and Parmesan cheese, and was invented by a chef at the Savoy Hotel in London where Bennett frequently dined. It is still on the menu there and is served in many other restaurants. [1]
Arnold Bennett was an English author, best known as a novelist who wrote prolifically. He died on 27 March 1931.
Enoch Arnold Bennett was born on 27 May 1867 and was schooled at the Wedgwood Institute, Burslem, followed by a year at grammar school. It was here that an inspirational headmaster inspired in him a love for French literature and the French language that lasted all his life. He did well academically and despite gaining entrance to Cambridge University left school at age 16 to work in his father’s office and began writing in a modest way, contributing light pieces to the local newspaper. In 1889, aged 21, he moved to London. Between the 1890s and the 1930s, Bennett completed 34 novels, seven volumes of short stories, 13 plays (some in collaboration with other writers), and a daily journal totalling more than a million words. He wrote articles and stories for more than 100 newspapers and periodicals, worked in, and briefly ran the Ministry of Information in WWI, and wrote for the cinema in the 1920s.
Sales of Bennett’s books were substantial, and he was the most financially successful British author of his day. He is best known for his novels, including The Old Wives’ Tale, Clayhanger, and Anna of the Five Towns, which portray life in the Potteries, a region of central England known for its pottery industry.
During a holiday in France in January 1931, Bennett twice drank tap water – not, at the time, a safe thing to do there. Returning home, he was taken ill and after several weeks of unsuccessful treatment, he died of typhoid fever at his home in London aged 63. Bennett was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium and his ashes were interred in Burslem Cemetery in his mother’s grave.
His death was widely mourned, and he was celebrated as one of the most important British writers of his time. Today, Bennett is remembered as a significant figure in the development of the modern novel, and his works continue to be read and appreciated for their insights into British society and culture.