Arnold Bennett (May 27, 1867 – March 27, 1931) was an English writer who produced a host of popular novels, seventeen non-fiction books, four screenplays, a play, and a libretto.  Born and educated in the West Midlands, he moved to London at 21 and found success as a journalist, eventually becoming editor of the periodical Woman. He dedicated himself to writing full time in 1900. He moved to Paris in 1903 to join a worldly group of artists converging on Montmarte and Montparnasse in those years. His best known novel, The Old Wives’ Tale, appeared in 1908 to immediate success and prompted a visit to America in 1911, where he was greeted with acclaim comparable to that of Charles Dickens. The book was hailed as a masterpiece and is listed at number 87 in the 1988 Modern Library list of the best English-language novels of the 20th Century. His most popular non-fiction work, How to Live on 24 Hours a Day, appeared in 1910 and is part of a larger series How to Live.  Bennett served as Director of Propaganda for France during World War I. He left his French wife in 1921 to take up with actress Dorothy Cheston, with whom he remained but never married. Their daughter, Virginia, was born in 1926 and later served as president of the Arnold Bennett Society. He died of typhoid in London after drinking tap water during a visit to Paris.