The linked lives of two sisters from a Staffordshire draper's shop, one who stays home and one who elopes to Paris, followed across fifty years. Bennett's panoramic realist masterpiece.
Books mentioned in The Old Wives' Tale (4)
La Débâcle by Émile Zola: “"I've just been reading Zola's 'Downfall,'" he said. Her mind searched backwards, and recalled a poster. "Oh!" she replied. "'La Debacle'?"”
The Experience of Life by Elizabeth Missing Sewell: “You needn't be afraid," said Sophia, laughing. "It's Miss Sewell's Experience of Life."”
The Days of Bruce by Grace Aguilar: “She crept away again, forlorn and puzzled, and next discovered herself in the bedroom which she shared with Constance at the top of the house; she lay down in the dusk on the bed and began to read "The Days of Bruce;" but she read only with her eyes.”
The Harvest of a Quiet Eye: “The bed had been ruffled, and on it lay a book, "The Harvest of a Quiet Eye."”