Cranford
A sensitive and moving portrait of life and manners in an English country village during the 1830s, Cranford recounts the events and activities in the lives of a group of spinsters and widows.
Main Author: | Gaskell, Elizabeth Cleghorn, 1810-1865. |
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Format: | Books Print Book |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Mineola, New York :
Dover Publications,
2003.
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Subjects: |
Summary: |
A sensitive and moving portrait of life and manners in an English country village during the 1830s, Cranford recounts the events and activities in the lives of a group of spinsters and widows. Mary Smith relates the story of her time with middle-aged spinster sisters Miss Matty and Miss Deborah. |
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Physical Description: |
138 pages |
ISBN: |
9780486426815 0486426815 |
Author Notes: |
Our Society at Cranford was the first two chapters of Cranford and it appeared in Dickens' Household Words in 1851. Dickens liked it so much that he pressed Gaskell for more episodes, and she produced eight more of them between 1852 and 1853. She also wrote My Lady Ludlow and Lois the Witch, a novella that concerns the Salem witch trials. Wives and Daughters ran in Cornhill from August 1864 to January 1866. The final installment was never written but the ending was known and the novel exists now virtually complete. The story centers on a series of relationships between family groups in Hollingford. Most critics agree that her greatest achievement is the short novel Cousin Phillis. Gaskell was also followed by controversy. In 1853, she offended many readers with Ruth, which explored seduction and illegitimacy that led the "fallen woman" into ostracism and inevitable prostitution. The novel presents the social conduct in a small community when tolerance and morality clash. Critics praised the novel's moral lessons but Gaskell's own congregation burned the book and it was banned in many libraries. In 1857, The Life of Charlotte Brontë was published. The biography was initially praised but angry protests came from some of the people it dealt with. Gaskell was against any biographical notice of her being written during her lifetime. After her death on November 12, 1865, her family refused to make family letters or biographical data available. (Bowker Author Biography) |