Catalog Search Results
Cranford is a humorous account of a nineteenth-century English village dominated by a group of genteel but modestly circumstanced women. By eschewing the conventional marriage plot with its nubile heroines and focusing instead on a group of middle-aged and elderly spinsters, Elizabeth Gaskell did something highly unusual within the novel genre. Through her masterful management of the novels tone, she underscores the value and dignity of
...North and South draws on Gaskell's own experiences of the poverty and hardship of life in the industrial north of England. Her heroine, Margaret Hale, is taken from the wealthy south by her nonconformist minister father, to live in a fictional northern town. The stark differences are explored through Margaret's abrupt change in circumstance, and her sympathetic reaction to the plight of the northerners. She comes into conflict with a local
...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.
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.
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?
6) 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
...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.
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.
9) 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
...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.
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.
Didn't find it?
Can't find what you are looking for? Try our Materials Request Service. Submit Request