Elizabeth Gaskell
Margaret's safe existence is turned upside down when she has to move to the grim northern town of Milton. Not only does she have her eyes opened by the poverty and hardship she encounters there, but she is thrown into confusion by stern factory owner John Thornton - whose treatment of his workers brings them into fierce opposition.
As men and women, workers and masters come into violent conflict, it seems opposites can never meet. But do John
3) Cranford
Cranford is the best-known novel of the 19th century English writer Elizabeth Gaskell. It was first published in 1851 as a serial in the magazine Household Words, which was edited by Charles Dickens. The fictional town of Cranford is closely modelled on Knutsford in Cheshire, which Mrs Gaskell knew well. The book has little in the way of plot and is more a series of episodes in the lives of Mary Smith and her friends, Miss Matty and Miss
...Looking for an engaging and emotionally resonant read from a novelist who was inspired by the works of both Charles Dickens and Charlotte Bronte? Elizabeth Gaskell's 1850 short novel The Moorland Cottage offers up a unflinching slice of nineteenth-century family life, with a particular focus on family dynamics in an era where sons were openly favored.
As a writer, Elizabeth Gaskell often sought to cast light on the stark differences between social classes in the Victorian era. But in the remarkable novella "The Poor Clare," she takes issues of class, socioeconomic status, and religious differences out of the drawing room and embeds them in a spine-tingling tale of gothic suspense.
6) Mary Barton
The first novel by English writer Elizabeth Gaskell, Mary Barton was published in 1848. It tells of the plight of the lower class in Manchester during the 1830s and 1840s. Contrasting the gap between rich and poor, the first half of the novel tells of the humble lives of the Barton and Wilson families, the extreme poverty of the Davenports and the luxurious life of the Carsons. Symbolically, John Barton receives five shillings for selling
...Though she gained acclaim as a novelist whom many critics and fans likened to another Victorian literary luminary, Charles Dickens, Elizabeth Gaskell was also deeply interested in social causes, about which she often penned compelling nonfiction pieces. This essay paints a heart-rending portrait of the plight of the Cagots, a European clan who suffered severe persecution for hundreds of years.
Though she began her literary career as a social realist working in the vein of her mentor Charles Dickens, Elizabeth Gaskell took a mid-career turn into the realm of supernatural writing. Curious, If True brings together a collection of Gaskell's most spine-chilling Victorian tales of horror and suspense. It's a must-read for fans of gothic mysteries.
In this masterfully suspenseful short story from Victorian-era author Elizabeth Gaskell, the strained relationship between two half-brothers — one beloved and one largely shunned by the family—comes to a head suddenly when the younger of the two finds himself in terrible danger.
A writer of remarkably diverse talents, Elizabeth Gaskell produced fiction and non-fiction ranging from short stories that offered detailed cross-sections of Victorian life and society to a well-regarded biography of author Charlotte Bronte. The novel A Dark Night's Work is the engrossing apogee of Gaskell's foray into Gothic ghost stories and tales of horror. Fans of these genres won't be disappointed.
Prominent Victorian novelist Elizabeth Gaskell introduced a new level of realism into her depictions of the daily duties, struggles and tribulations of people at every point on the socioeconomic spectrum. This collection brings together some of her most acclaimed stories, including domestic dramas and a few with creepy supernatural and gothic elements.
12) Sylvia's Lovers
This tragic tale from Elizabeth Gaskell follows the wartime love affairs of the title character. After her true love is believed to have perished at sea, Sylvia seeks stability in a loveless arranged marriage. But does her husband know more about her first lover's fate than he is admitting?
Nineteenth-century novelist Elizabeth Gaskell was inspired to start writing in part through her friendship with Charlotte Bronte. Later, Gaskell took on the project of composing the first serious, full-length biography of Bronte, a work that scholars agree did much to fan the flames of Bronte's then-burgeoning reputation. The Life of Charlotte Bronte is a fascinating read for fans who want to learn more about the Jane Eyre author's
...14) My Lady Ludlow
This beloved novella from author Elizabeth Gaskell offers a fascinating glimpse into the lives of women in the nineteenth century, particularly those who were widowed or unmarried. The lack of legal rights afforded to these women may come as a shock to contemporary readers, but Gaskell addresses the unique challenges they faced—and often triumphed over—with grace and keen insight.
Later in her career, Victorian-era novelist Elizabeth Gaskell turned away from the domestic dramas that dominated her previous work and began to experiment with gothic horror, honing her craft over a period of years. This short novella focuses on the trials and tribulations of a supposedly cursed family and offers up a number of keen observations about the psychological impact of laboring under such a fate.
16) Cousin Phillis
Lauded by critics as one of the most nuanced accounts of adolescence and young adulthood to have been penned in the nineteenth century, Cousin Phillis also offers a glimpse into the lives of working-class English farmers and the deeply intertwined extended family relationships that were a fact of life during the era.
Popular nineteenth-century writer Elizabeth Gaskell packed her fiction with the kind of riveting social details that keep contemporary readers and fans of historical drama glued to the page. This collection of short stories offers a comprehensive introduction to her body of work, which rivaled Dickens' in terms of popularity at the height of her career.
18) Ruth
Fans of social realism will appreciate the surprisingly nuanced and multi-faceted perspective on Victorian era morals and mores offered in Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell's sweeping novel Ruth. The story follows the fortune of Ruth, an orphan who is tricked into an intimate relationship with an aristocrat who later abandons her when she is pregnant with his child. Ruth, distraught, struggles with the social strictures that paint her as an irredeemable
...20) Lizzie Leigh
The trope of the "fallen woman" has been a constant presence in world literature for centuries. Victorian novelist Elizabeth Gaskell breathes new life into that tired archetype in the engaging short story "Lizzie Leigh," in which love ultimately triumphs even in the face of the most formidable odds.