# Mrs. Sutton — Anna of the Five Towns character guide

> Mrs. Sutton in Anna of the Five Towns by Arnold Bennett.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Bursley

**First appearance:** 0004-ii-the-miser-s-daughter

## Snapshot

Beatrice's mother and a quiet force in Bursley society, she teaches a Monday-night class where Anna finds spiritual inspiration and a model of modest, fervent womanhood.

## Who they are

Mrs. Sutton occupies a respectable place in the Five Towns' chapel world, her Monday-night class drawing women like Anna Tellwright who hunger for guidance beyond their fathers' grim households. She is gentle where the town is rough, shielding her charges from worry and offering homilies that feel like wells of inspiration rather than sermons. Her modest influence matters because she gives Anna a glimpse of a life shaped by warmth rather than fear, quietly widening the young woman's sense of what devotion might mean.

## In the story

### [I: The Kindling of Love](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/anna_of_the_five_towns_se/chapters/i-the-kindling-of-love)

Mrs. Sutton is a grey-haired, benevolent woman who emerges from the girls' door and invites people to the sewing-meeting. She is a distant relative of Mynors.

### [V: The Revival](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/anna_of_the_five_towns_se/chapters/v-the-revival)

Accompanies the revivalist in her carriage and later ministers to Anna during her spiritual crisis at the chapel.

### [VII: The Sewing Meeting](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/anna_of_the_five_towns_se/chapters/vii-the-sewing-meeting)

Hosts the sewing meeting and is praised by Anna as 'a splendid woman.'

### [IX: The Treat](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/anna_of_the_five_towns_se/chapters/ix-the-treat)

Visits Tellwright to solicit a building fund donation and to arrange Anna's trip to the Isle of Man; successfully secures both; signals Anna to leave the room during negotiations.

### [X: The Isle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/anna_of_the_five_towns_se/chapters/x-the-isle)

Mrs. Sutton is a maternal figure who wins Ephraim's consent for Anna's trip, leads a spiritual class, and organizes the holiday with her husband.

### [XIII: The Bazaar](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/anna_of_the_five_towns_se/chapters/xiii-the-bazaar)

Organiser of the Sunday-school stall; advises Anna on wedding preparations and suggests £100 might suffice for the trousseau and linen.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/anna_of_the_five_towns_se/characters/mrs_sutton
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/anna_of_the_five_towns_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/anna_of_the_five_towns_se/characters