Elizabeth Gaskell

Two families from rural 19th century England are tested and tried in Elizabeth Gaskell's classic Wives and Daughters. Vividly portraying the world of the early 1800s, this story is full of observation and character studies with a deft undertone of comedy. 596 pages, softcover.

Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South is a wonderful blend of social comment on the dramatic changes in society brought about by the industrial revolution and a compelling love story. This Macmillan Collector's Library edition is a handsome pocket-sized edition that features gilded edges, a cloth-bound imprinted hardcover binding with dust jacket, and a ribbon marker. Afterword by Kathryn White. Measures 4" x 6"; 651 pages.

In this compelling love story, Margaret Hale must leave her idyllic, rural home in Hampshire, when her father resigns his position in the Anglican Church. They move to Milton, a northern industrial town where she sees, firsthand, the poverty and poor working conditions of the mill workers. When she strives to relieve the suffering of her new friends, she runs into fierce opposition from mill owner and self-made man, John Thornton, but their conflict masks a deeper attraction. In North and South, Gaskell creates an original and inspiring Victorian heroine, and delves into themes of geographical, economic, and class differences; the clash between the pursuit of profit and humanitarian ideals; and the male and female roles that are entrenched in English culture. 480 pages, softcover.

In Ruth, the author set out to portray, not 'the Condition of England' already famously addressed in Mary Barton, but the nature and sensibility of a fallen woman. In considering a 'fallen woman', Gaskell explores the worlds of nineteenth-century experience concerned with women and family, sexuality, love and religion.