Editing Arnold Bennett (section)

===Marriage; Fontainebleau and US visit===
[[File:Picture of Arnold Bennett.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|alt=Head and torso of standing middle-aged white man, in a dark suit, with full head of wavy dark hair, looking to the side. He has a neat, medium-sized moustache|Bennett, {{Circa|1910}}]]
In 1905 Bennett became engaged to Eleanor Green, a member of an eccentric and capricious American family living in Paris, but at the last moment, after the wedding invitations had been sent out, she broke off the engagement and almost immediately married a fellow American.<ref>Pound, p. 163; and Drabble, p. 129</ref> Drabble comments that Bennett was well rid of her, but it was a painful episode in his life.<ref>Drabble, p. 133</ref> In early 1907 he met Marguerite Soulié (1874–1960), who soon became first a friend and then a lover.<ref>Drabble, p. 137</ref> In May he was taken ill with a severe gastric complaint, and Marguerite moved into his flat to look after him. They became still closer, and in July 1907, shortly after his fortieth birthday, they were married at the [[Mairie]] of the 9th arrondissement.<ref>Drabble, p. 140</ref> The marriage was childless.<ref name=dnb>Swinnerton, Frank. [https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/odnb/9780192683120.001.0001/odnb-9780192683120-e-30708 "Bennett, (Enoch) Arnold (1867–1931)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180603143800/http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/odnb/9780192683120.001.0001/odnb-9780192683120-e-30708 |date=3 June 2018 }}, ''Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 1949. Retrieved 1 June 2020 {{ODNBsub}}</ref> Early in 1908 the couple moved from the rue d'Aumale to the Villa des Néfliers in [[Avon, Seine-et-Marne|Fontainebleau-Avon]], about 40 miles (64&nbsp;km) south-east of Paris.<ref>Drabble, p. 250</ref>{{refn|"Néfliers" translates into English as "[[medlar]] trees".<ref>Corréard ''et al'', p. 1433</ref> In Bennett's time the house was called "Villa ''des'' Néfliers",<ref>Pound, pp. 187, 209 and 220</ref> but is evidently now the "Villa ''les'' Néfliers".<ref name=about>[https://www.arnoldbennettsociety.org.uk/about-the-society/ "About the Society"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190325060107/http://www.arnoldbennettsociety.org.uk/about-the-society/ |date=25 March 2019 }}, Arnold Bennett Society. Retrieved 1 June 2020</ref><ref name=ts>[http://tonyshaw3.blogspot.com/2013/11/arnold-bennett-in-avon-seine-et-marne.html "Arnold Bennett in Avon, Seine-et-Marne"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180305040350/http://tonyshaw3.blogspot.com/2013/11/arnold-bennett-in-avon-seine-et-marne.html |date=5 March 2018 }}, Dr Tony Shaw. Retrieved 1 June 2020</ref>|group=n}}

Lucas comments that the best of the novels written while in France – ''Whom God Hath Joined'' (1906), ''The Old Wives' Tale'' (1908), and ''[[Clayhanger]]'' (1910) – "justly established Bennett as a major exponent of realistic fiction".<ref name=odnb/> In addition to these, Bennett published lighter novels such as ''[[The Card]]'' (1911). His output of literary journalism included articles for [[T. P. O'Connor]]'s ''[[T. P.'s Weekly]]'' and the left-wing ''[[The New Age]]''; his pieces for the latter, published under a pen-name, were concise literary essays aimed at "the general cultivated reader",<ref name=odnb/> a form taken up by a later generation of writers including [[J. B. Priestley]] and [[V. S. Pritchett]].<ref name=odnb/>

In 1911 Bennett made a financially rewarding visit to the US, which he later recorded in his 1912 book ''[[Those United States]]''. Crossing the Atlantic aboard the ''[[RMS Lusitania|Lusitania]]'', he visited not only New York and Boston but also Chicago, Indianapolis, Washington and Philadelphia in a tour that was described by US publisher [[George H. Doran Company|George Doran]] as "one of continuous triumph":<ref>Pound, p. 228)</ref> in the first three days of his stay in New York he was interviewed 26 times by journalists.<ref>Donovan, p. 103</ref> While rival [[E.P. Dutton]] had secured rights to such Bennett novels as ''Hilda Lessways'' and ''the Card'' (retitled ''Denry the Audacious''), Doran, who travelled everywhere with Bennett while in America, was the publisher of Bennett's wildly successful 'pocket philosophies' ''[[How to Live on Twenty-Four Hours a Day]]'' and ''Mental Efficiency.'' Of these books the influential critic [[Willard Huntington Wright]] wrote that Bennett had "turned preacher and a jolly good preacher he is".<ref>Donovan, p. 100</ref> While in the US Bennett also sold the serial rights of his forthcoming novel, ''The Price of Love'' (1913–14), to ''[[Harper's Magazine|Harpers]]'' for £2,000, eight essays to ''[[Metropolitan Magazine (New York City)|Metropolitan]]'' magazine for a total of  £1,200, and the American rights of a successor to ''Clayhanger'' for £3,000.<ref name=odnb/>

During his ten years in France he had gone from a moderately well-known writer enjoying modest sales to outstanding success. Swinnerton comments that in addition to his large sales, Bennett's critical prestige was at its zenith.<ref name="dnb" />