Widely believed to be her masterpiece, Elizabeth Gaskell's "Wives and Daughters" was originally published serially in "Cornhill Magazine" between August 1864 and January 1866. The work, which was nearly finished at the time of Gaskell's death in 1865, was completed by Frederick Greenwood. The novel's heroine is Molly Gibson, the only daughter of a widowed country doctor in a small town in England. Molly, lonely and motherless, is befriended by the Hamley family, who are landed gentry and therefore above Molly's station, as the daughter of a professional. After returning home to her father, Molly finds that he has remarried. While her new stepmother is petty and greedy, in sharp contrast to Molly's warmth, kindness and innocence, Molly finds a friend and confidant in her new stepsister Cynthia. "Wives and Daughters," a classic 19th century romantic novel that follows the daily lives and romantic entanglements of Molly, Cynthia, and their family and friends; is an insightful examination of the constraints imposed by society between individuals of professional versus aristocratic social classes. In turns both heartbreaking and comic, Gaskell's novel will linger with readers long past the final page. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper and includes an introduction by Adolphus W. Ward.
First published in eight installments from 1851 to 1853, Elizabeth Gaskell's "Cranford", one of her most popular works, is a gentle and humorous picture of an English country village. Based on the village of Gaskell's childhood, the novel is narrated by a young woman visiting the town who describes the genteel poverty of the town's female inhabitants and centers on the lives of two middle-aged spinster sisters, Miss Matty and Miss Deborah. The ladies work hard to conserve their appearances, habits, and social standards of propriety even in their reduced circumstances. Told in a series of graceful and loosely related sketches, the residents of Cranford are challenged when the poor and socially awkward Captain Brown moves to town with his two daughters. He rejects their rules of politeness and openly discusses his poverty and difficulties. Many of the novel's tales concern the love lives, tragedies, and family dramas of the small town's colorful characters. In a changing and modernizing world, the endearing stories and sympathetic struggles of the villagers of Cranford are captured in this compassionate and hopeful portrayal of small-town English life. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.
First published in 1848, "Mary Barton" is a moving account of poverty and the working class by English author Elizabeth Gaskell. Set in the early 1840s in the English city of Manchester, Gaskell's first novel follows the young and beautiful Mary Barton, daughter of a factory worker, who is eventually caught up in the class struggle of her time. She attracts the attention of a wealthy mill-owner's son, Henry Carson, although she soon discovers her love for the poor, hard-working Jem Wilson. When a brutal shooting leaves a man dead, Mary must decide if she wishes to help in Jem's defense, as he is accused of the murder, and she is certain she knows the identity of the true culprit. Gaskell weaves Mary's story of romance and hope amidst a moving account of the grinding poverty of England's working class, who often risked much with little regard or appreciation from the wealthy. Gaskell makes a compelling case for increased communication between workers and employers, greater equality between the rich and the poor, and the importance of the possibility of redemption and forgiveness. "Mary Barton" makes it clear why Gaskell is often called Great Britain's social conscience of the Industrial Revolution. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.
In "Gothic Tales", Elizabeth Gaskell, the eminent Victorian author, brings us nine chilling gothic stories. Collected here are tales that set a precedent for ghost and horror stories of the era. In "The Poor Clare" a young innocent girl named Lucy is haunted by an unrelenting ghost invoked by her aging grandmother. In the novella "Lois the Witch" the young Lois sails to America to join her distant family. She is greeted by a New England engulfed in the fever of the Salem witch trials. Soon all goes wrong when she is deemed one of the cursed. The reader confronts the peaks of suspense in "The Grey Woman", a terrifying psychological thriller. These among others shape this well rounded collection of one of the most respected Victorian authors. Gaskell was championed and published by Charles Dickens in his literary magazine "Household Words". Her style, vision, and delivery, are seen at its best here in this collection. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.
Written in the Gothic tradition, The Grey Woman tells a powerful story of deception and distrust. This complex tale is told in an epistolary format from the perspective of the protagonist, Anna Scherer. Similar to other Gaskell works, a recurring theme is the oppression of women through marriage, specifically the lack of power and rights that women have within a marriage. This book is considered ahead of its time for its progressive feminist views and strong female protagonist. It is sometimes compared to Charles Perrault's Bluebeard.
One of literature's greatest romances, North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell is both an incisive social commentary and an electric portrayal of all-conquering love.This edition features an afterword by Kathryn White. North and South is part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, pocket-sized classics bound in real cloth with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover.Forced to move from the rural tranquillity of southern England to the turbulent northern mill town of Milton, Margaret Hale takes an instant dislike to the dirt and noise that seems to characterize her new home and its inhabitants - even the handsome and charismatic cotton mill owner, John Thornton. But as she begins to settle in, and to understand the nature of the surrounding poverty and injustice, events conspire to throw her and Thornton together. Amidst the chaos of industrial unrest, they must learn to overcome the prejudices of class and circumstance and admit their feelings for one another.
Designed to appeal to the booklover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure. A rich, comic and illuminating portrait of life in a small town, Cranford has moved and entertained readers for generations. This edition features illustrations by the celebrated Hugh Thomson, and an introduction by Dr Josie Billington, a specialist in Victorian literature.The women of the small country town of Cranford live in genteel poverty, resolutely refusing to embrace change, while the dark clouds of urbanisation and the advance of the railway hover threateningly on the horizon. In their simple, well-ordered lives they face emotional dilemmas and upheavals, small in the scale of the ever-shifting world, but affectionately portrayed by Elizabeth Gaskell with all the weight and consequence of a grand drama.
Can't get enough of nineteenth-century British romance? Lovers of books like Pride and Prejudice and Wuthering Heights should give Elizabeth Gaskell's Wives and Daughters a try. This tale follows the romantic ups and downs of Molly Gibson, a doctor's daughter who lives in a small English village and is trying desperately to find the right husband.
Elizabeth Gaskell's The Life of Charlotte Bront (1857) is a landmark biography of one great Victorian woman novelist by another. Gaskell was a friend of Charlotte Bront , and, having been invited to write the official life, determined both to tell the truth and to honour her friend. She contacted those who had known Charlotte and travelled extensively in England and Belgium to gather material. She wrote from a vivid accumulation of letters, interviews, and observation, establishing the details of Charlotte's life and recreating her background, as well as her interaction with her literary sisters Emily and Anne, her brother and her father. Through an often difficult and demanding process, Gaskell created a vital sense of a life hidden from the world. Charlotte was the most robust, gifted and technically competent of her famous sisters. This study of her by a contemporary is an outstanding biography by any standards: finely written with a self-effacement on the part of the biographer which is all the more remarkable when one considers the success of Mrs. Gaskell's "Cranford", so alive with sunlit gaiety and personal magnetism. This edition is based on the Third Edition of 1857, revised by Gaskell. It has been collated with the manuscript, and the previous two editions, as well as with Charlotte Bront 's letters, and thus offers fuller information about the process of composition than any previous edition.
Ellenor, fille d'un riche attorney et Ralph, jeune avocat ambitieux, sont amis d'enfance. Peu peu, leur amiti s'est transform e en un sentiment plus tendre. Ils s' prennent l'un de l'autre et se fiancent. Et, tout coup, une nuit de mai va bouleverser leur vie...
Quand la mort entre dans une maison le jour de No l, le contraste de ce qui est avec ce qui a t donne au chagrin une amertume nouvelle et ajoute la d solation le sentiment d'un isolement plus complet. Jacques Leigh mourut au moment m me o les cloches lointaines de l' glise de Rochdale appelaient les fid les au service du matin, le jour de No l 1836. Quelques minutes avant sa mort, il ouvrit des yeux d j voil s, et, par un mouvement presque imperceptible des l vres, fit signe sa femme qu'il avait quelque chose dire. Elle se pencha vers lui et recueillit ces paroles entrecoup es: Je lui pardonne, Anne; que Dieu me pardonne
L'action de Ma cousine Phillis se situe dans une petite ville imaginaire, cette fois baptis e Eltham. Il ne s'agit pourtant pas dans cette novella de la vie de vieilles demoiselles entre invitations boire le th et ragots sur le compte des voisins, mais plut t de la vie de famille dans une ferme isol e, entre travaux de la ferme pour les messieurs, travaux d'aiguille pour les dames, et lecture pour celles et ceux qui en ont le go t...
Classics for Your Collection: goo.gl/U80LCr --------- Cranford follows a group of women living in the small fictional town of Cranford. The women live in "genteel poverty" and have very old-fashioned mindsets about life and social niceties and norms. The book is told from the perspective of Mary Smith (or Elizabeth Gaskell), and focuses mainly on Miss Matty, a sweet-tempered older woman who is one of the pillars of society since the death of her older, revered sister Deborah Jenkyns. Cranford is a village of people who, at the risk of seeming pretentious, choose to ignore anything uncomfortable, anything that suggests lack. For example, the person who cannot afford a maid would hire someone temporarily when entertaining friends and pretend as if the maid is a permanent fixture, even though she is aware that everyone knows this is false. No one speaks of another's wants, so imagine the disdain when a newcomer, Captain Brown, arrives and cannot stop speaking simply and openly about his poverty. These small exchanges, highlighted by Gaskell's stylized prose, do add mirth to this ceremonial narrative. Gaskell has done something quite groundbreaking with this novel. As a town where its chief members are middle-class, single women who have little regard for the goings-on outside their insulated community, Cranford is almost matriarchal. And when compared with the world outside, Gaskell clearly suggests it is not Cranford that is to be found wanting. In fact, the way in which she highlights the lives of single women in the Victorian period is quite brilliant. Women who seem to be old-fashioned snobs prove to be strong, compassionate, caring, and self-sufficient. These women care for each other so much that it would make you feel awestruck. No one can read the little tales about Cranford and their tragedies and joys and not feel twitterpated. NO ONE. It's a perfect little lace-trimmed window into the soul of a town trapped in a very particular era, with a very particular state of mind. Overall, 'Cranford' is a delightful place to visit, and you will be sad when forced to leave (when you finish reading the book ) Scroll Up and Get Your Copy Timeless Classics for Your Bookshelf (Available at Amazon's CreateSpace) Classic Books for Your Inspiration and Entertainment Visit Us at: goo.gl/0oisZU
Classics for Your Collection: goo.gl/U80LCr --------- Cousin Phillis is a lovely little novella about a young man's coming of age and his growing friendship with his cousin Phillis who lives on a farm in Northern England and his boss Holdsworth who is an engineer. Gaskell is a wonderful painter of words and with deft strokes of her brush is able to impart to a contemporary reader what life in pastoral England in the mid-nineteenth century was like. She is able to convey in such a short book what life on a farm is like but also what life is like for the servants, the clergy, the upper classes and the professionals. She paints sympathetic portraits of all her characters and with compassion is able to see the world through their eyes which is mitigated by class, upbringing, gender, education and spiritual leanings. Against this lovely backdrop is the development of a quasi love triangle among young Paul, his cousin Phillis and the intelligent roguish Holdsworth. There are elements of restrained homosexual desire, heterosexual passions and the fine lines between platonic and romantic love. All this and there is not one passionate kiss among any of the trio. Characters Paul Manning (the narrator, Phillis's cousin) Mr Manning (Paul's father) Mr Edward Holdsworth Mr Holman (independent church minister) Mrs Holman Miss Phillis Holman Mr Ellison (Mr Manning's business partner) Miss Lucille Ventadur (at last Mr Holdsworth's wife) Betty (the servant at Holman house) Scroll Up and Get Your Copy Timeless Classics for Your Bookshelf (Available at Amazon's CreateSpace) Classic Books for Your Inspiration and Entertainment Visit Us at: goo.gl/0oisZU
