The plot centres on Anna, daughter of a wealthy but miserly and dictatorial father, living in the Potteries area of Staffordshire. Her activities are strictly controlled by the Methodism church. Having escaped her father by marrying the respectable and attractive Henry, she attempts in vain to help Willy, son of a drunken and bankrupt business associate of her father's. She eventually realises, too late, that she loves Willy.
One of Arnold Bennett's finest novels, Anna of the FiveTowns is at once a brilliantly detailed picture of life in the Potteries, and a tightly knit story of the destructive forces of evangelism and industrial expansion in a small community.
In 1834 it was described as a large modern town, second in Staffordshire to Wolverhampton.
In the 18th Century the town was a collection of dwellings around Upper and Lower Green, two small villages half a mile apart.
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