Inheritance

West Riding #1

by Phyllis Bentley

Inheritance was probably Phyllis Bentley's most famous novel --certainly it is a terrific saga of the West Riding of Yorkshire and the textile industry, and it made Phyllis Bentley famous. THe novel spans 119 years of history and the life stories of 27 major characters. KF

Genres: Fiction

544 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1932

About the author

PHYLLIS ELEANOR BENTLEY, the Yorkshire author, was born in November 1894. Her father was a junior partner in a manufacturing concern located at Dunkirk Mills, Halifax. She was educated at Halifax High School for Girls and Cheltenham Ladies College. A munitions worker in London during the First World War, she returned to Halifax where she taught English and Latin at Heath Grammar School.From an early age her ambition was to be a novelist. After several rejections from publishers, in 1928 she started her long association with the Gollancz publishing house, who agreed to publish her novel ‘The Partnership’. Her masterpiece, ‘Inheritance’ was published in 1932. Telling the story of the Oldroyd family, set against the background of the development of the textile industry, the book received widespread critical acclaim. Two further novels continued the saga of the Oldroyd family, ‘The Rise of Henry Morcar’ and ‘A Man of His Time’. In 1967 Granada Television began the serialisation of the trilogy. The ten-part series featured John Thaw and James Bolam in leading roles.

Phyllis Bentley’s main works were: Environment (1922); Cat in the Manger (1923); The Spinner of the Years ( March 1928); The Partnership (1928); Carr (1929); Trio (August 29 1930); Inheritance (1932); A Modern Tragedy (1934); The Whole of the Story (1935); Freedom Farewell (1936); The Rise of Henry Morcar (1946); Life Story (1948); Quorum; Panarama (1952); The House of Moreys (1953); Noble in Reason (1955); Crescendo (1958); Kith and Kin; O Dreams O Destinations (autobiography, 1962); Tales of the West Riding (1965); A Man Of His Time (1966); Gold Pieces (children's novel, 1968). Many of these novels deal with West Yorkshire and its history.

In recognition of her talent, she received several awards. In 1949 she was awarded a honorary Doctor of Literature ( DLitt) from Leeds University. In 1958 she became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and in 1970 was awarded an OBE.

She died in late June 1977 at Ing Royde Home.

Reviews

[Mrs C Tickle]

Old Friend

Wonderful, family saga. Solid background with factual historical base. I have read this book several times over the last 50 years...its an old friend, the characters are so believable and created in such a way to make you really care about them. Excellent book.

[Teaspoon Stories]

Phyllis Bentley is one of the “Famous British Authors” who feature on the 1937 set of Wills cigarette cards - and shamefully yet another female author I hadn’t heard of before.

Apparently “Inheritance” was her most popular novel. The vintage copy I found was a 26th re-print from 1948 which shows the novel was still in demand 16 years after it was first published in 1932.  

I was thoroughly gripped by “Inheritance” and spent a whole series of November afternoons enthralled by this gutsy, inter-generational tale of the rise and fall (and rise again?) of a West Riding textile family.

It’s a kind of “Forsyte Saga” of Halifax – starting with William Oldroyd, murdered by the Luddites in 1812, and ending with his three-times great grandson David, a young man coming of age in Phyllis Bentley’s own time and wondering what the future might hold for the textile industry in the North West of England.

I definitely want to read this novel again, if only this time to draw a family tree as I go to help me keep track of the interconnecting branches of the family through the various generations.

[Trevor Harvey]

What did I think of this family saga? It's OK; competent, enjoyable, an easy read. That's it.

I found it odd that a novel set in Yorkshire does not have any of its characters speaking the Yorkshire dialect.

The novel spans some 100 years taking in such events as the Luddite riots, the Chartists and factory reform. Bentley is never precise about dates which is confusing – at one point she refers to the phrase 'king and country' when describing a period during Queen Victoria's reign.

Further confusion arises with characters having the same name. A family tree would have assisted in this regard.

[Barbara]

It was interesting from a cultural and historical perspective, but I found it a bit tedious. Perhaps characters were too stereotypical? Maybe I wasn’t in the right headspace. I had been reading Vera Brittain’s Testaments. Vera spoke about Phyllis Bentley and her books, especially this one. Maybe another time!

[Cynthia]

Appropriate for today

Should be required reading for all Englishmen. This is a real story of real people and real events. Ultimate it's about relationships.

[Keith]

A thoroughly readable historical novel set in the West Riding of Yorkshire, perhaps the most famous of Phyllis Bentley's novels.

[Susan Grimshaw]

A masterpiece, my favourite book of all time, I have read it many times and love it more each time.