Clayhanger – Edited by John Shapcott

Clayhanger is Bennett’s totally engrossing portrait of life in the Potteries in Victorian times as seen through the eyes of Edwin Cayhanger, from leaving school to early manhood. 

Amongst the large cast of memorable characters surrounding Edwin are his printer father, Darium, whose tyrannical nature was shaped  by the brutality of the workhouse; his sensual, provocative and mysterious lover Hilda Lessways; the formidable Auntie Hamps, whose well-intentioned but forever interfering nature captures the essence of Victoria Methodist hypocrisy; and the clog-dancing Florence Simcox, whose mesmerising display triggers Edwin’s sexual awakening.