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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 includes a biographical afterword.

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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 includes a biographical afterword.

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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 includes an introduction by Adolphus W. Ward and a biographical afterword.

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Set in the fictional industrial town of Milton in the North of England, “North and South” is Elizabeth Gaskell’s 1855 novel that contrasts the different ways of life in the two respective regions of England. In the North the emerging industrialized society is sharply contrasted with the aging gentry of the agrarian based South. The plot of “North and South” centers around the main character Margaret Hale, the daughter of a non-conformist minister who moves his family to an industrial town in the North after a split from the Church of England. Here the impact of the industrial revolution can be fully seen as tensions between workers and employers over poor working conditions and the growing divide between the rich industrialists and poor factory workers escalate into violent conflict. Originally serialized between September 1854 and January 1855 in Charles Dickens’s “Household Words”, “North and South” was one of the first and most important social novels to address the changes brought about by the industrial revolution in England. This edition includes an introduction by Adolphus William Ward and a biographical afterword.

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A sensitive and moving portrait of a Victorian town, captured at a transitional period in English society, Cranford first appeared serially in Charles Dickens's magazine Household Words from 1851 to 1853, and in book form in 1853. Author Elizabeth Gaskell situated her stories in a hamlet very like the one in which she grew up, and her affectionate but unsentimental portraits of the residents of Cranford offer a realistic view of life and manners in an English country village during the 1830s.Cranford recounts the events and activities in the loves of a group of spinsters and widows who struggle in genteel poverty to maintain their standards of propriety, decency, and kindness. Tales of the heroism and self-sacrifice of Captain Brown, the surprisingly betrothal of Lady Glenmire, and the future for pretty but poor Miss Jessie support a web of subtle but serious themes that include the movement from aristocratic to middle-class values, the separate spheres and diverse experiences of men and women, and the curious coexistence of customs old and new in a changing society.Often referred to as Mrs. Gaskell, the author preferred Cranford to all her other works, which include a popular biography of her friend Charlotte Brontë. Praised by Charles Dickens as «delightful, and touched with the most tender and delicate manner,» the novel remains a favorite with students and aficionados of nineteenth-century literature.

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A moving account of poverty set in 1840s 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, for he is accused of the murder, and she knows who the real culprit is with certainty. Gaskell weaves Mary's story amidst a moving account of the hardships and grinding poverty of England's working class. A clear call for increased communication, greater equality between the rich and the poor, and redemption is made by Gaskell, who is often called Great Britain's social conscience of the Industrial Revolution.

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Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865) was a British novelist and short story writer during the Victorian era. During the years of novel-writing, she also published travel sketches and an assortment of essays. Her novels appeared in serial form in journals such as «Household Words» and «All the Year Round» edited by the renowned Charles Dickens and «Cornhill Magazine» edited by William Makepeace Thackeray. Many of Gaskell's novels offer a detailed portrait of the lives of many strata of society, including the less fortunate. Her powerfully moving novel, «Sylvia's Lovers», is set in the 1790s in an English seaside town where a young woman is caught between the attractions of two very different men. With England at war with France, press-gangs wreak havoc by seizing young men for service. One of their victims, Charley Kinraid, whose charm and cheerfulness has captured the heart of Sylvia Robson. But Sylvia's devoted cousin, Philip Hepburn, hopes to marry her himself, and in order to protect that outcome, deliberately withholds crucial information that ends with devastating consequences.

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Published in England in 1853, this social novel by Elizabeth Gaskell received controversial reviews among readers of the Victorian era because of its candid portrayal of the «fallen woman.» Ruth Hilton, an orphaned young seamstress, falls prey to the wiles of the young, wealthy and bored Henry Bellingham. The affair is short-lived when Ruth, carrying Bellingham's unborn child, is abandoned and left unemployed, homeless, and utterly without hope. She is saved by the minister, Thurstan Benson, who takes pity on Ruth and her illegitimate child, and helps to establish for her a respectable place in society. Upon the unforeseen return of Bellingham, the young mother must make a decision: to retain her personal pride and endure the chastisement of her community, or to succumb once again to Bellingham's advances. One of the first works to explore the social stigmas of the «fallen woman» in the context of 19th Century England, «Ruth» has remained a socially impactful work in literary history.

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The most well-known and well-liked of Gaskell's works, this softly humorous picture of an English country village was first serialized in a magazine edited by Charles Dickens in 1851. Based on the village of Gaskell's childhood, «Cranford» is narrated by a young woman visiting the town who describes the genteel poverty of two middle-aged spinster sisters, Miss Matty and Miss Deborah. Gaskell tells of their little adventures in a confidential and almost chatty tone, perfectly conveying their habits and standards of propriety, decency, and kindness in reduced circumstances. The colorful characters and subtle class distinctions of the village of Cranford are captured in this compassionate and hopeful portrayal of small-town English life.

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Elizabeth Gaskell's «The Life of Charlotte Bronte» is the official biography of Charlotte Bronte. Having been invited by the Bronte family to undertake the endeavor of writing Charlotte’s biography, Elizabeth Gaskell drew upon an exhaustive collection of letters, interviews of those who knew the author, and recollections of her own experiences with the author, whom she was a personal friend of. Elizabeth Gaskell as a fellow Victorian female writer brings great insight into the life and accomplishments of the talented Charlotte Bronte.

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