Elizabeth Gaskell

Written at the request of Charles Dickens, North and South is a book about rebellion that poses fundamental questions about the nature of social authority and obedience....

Molly Gibson, the only daughter of a widowed doctor in the small provincial town of Hollingford, lost her mother when she was a child....

Ruth, an orphaned heroine, is seduced and then abandoned by wealthy Henry Bellingham....

When her father assassinates Henry Carson, his employer's son and Mary's admirer, suspicion falls on Mary's second admirer, Jem, a fellow worker....

A vivid and affectionate portrait of the residents of an English country town in the mid-19th century, Cranford describes a community dominated by its independent and refined women....

The Ultimate Classics Collection: Volume Five is the fifth instalment of our wide-ranging classic collections.

Elizabeth Gaskell’s biography of her friend Charlotte Brontë—the first full-length biography of a woman novelist by a woman novelist—is a true classic. It transports us with a deft hand straight into 19th-century Haworth, Yorkshire and crafts an extensive account of Brontë’s life.

Life in an English seaside town in the 1790s is harsh, and ‘captious, capricious’ Sylvia has a dilemma when the dashing harpooner to whom she is secretly engaged disappears, and her dull cousin Philip (who has more information about his rival than he lets on) offers her love and security.

When Margaret Hale moves with her father from the comfort of the south of England to the industrial north, she is at first repulsed by what she sees....

First serialised in Household Words in 1851, Cranford is a charming, episodic novel which has been adapted for the stage, radio and TV. Based on the small Cheshire town of Knutsford where Gaskell was raised, Cranford paints a tender, witty portrait of an English village and its beloved locals.

When her father remarries, the honest, innocent Molly Gibson suddenly finds herself with a new stepsister, Cynthia, who is beautiful, worldly and impetuous....

Set in English society before the 1832 Reform Bill, Wives and Daughters centers on the story of youthful Molly Gibson, brought up from childhood by her father. When he remarries, a new stepsister enters Molly's quiet life, the loveable, but worldly and troubling, Cynthia. The narrative traces...

This charming piece of social observation throws a gentle spotlight on life in a small village in northern England of the 1850s....

One of Gaskell’s most renowned works, North and South is an exemplary example of the social novel. It remains widely popular today, having been adapted for television numerous times since its publication in 1854.

When a crisis of faith prompts his departure from the Church of England, Margaret Hale’s father moves his family north to bleak, industrial Milton. At first, Margaret is put off by the town’s grit and poverty - a stark contrast to her rural southern hometown....

Few ghost stories are as chilling as the ones written by Victorian writers. Listen if you dare....

The Essential Classics: Volume 7 brings together 5 of the greatest classics ever written, perfectly read by an esteemed cast including Jonathan Keeble, Kristin Atherton, Emma Gregory, and Matt Bates.

The tale of a rural habitation in the late 19th Century and the effect of industrialisation on the local community....

Almost always when we think of Ghost Stories, we first think of those written by the Victorians.

Penguin Classics presents Elizabeth Gaskell, adapted for audio and available as a digital download as part of the Penguin English Library series. Read by Penelope Wilton. "Eh, miss, but that be a rare young lady! She do have such pretty coaxing ways ..." Seventeen-year-old Molly Gibson worships...