Elizabeth Gaskell

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

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....

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

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.

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....

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....

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.

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

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.

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

Wives and Daughters, Elizabeth Gaskell's last novel, is regarded by many as her masterpiece....

Lady Ludlow's appalling snobbery, prejudice and bred-in-the-bone conviction as to the superiority of the English aristocracy and their feudal way of life are deliciously tested....

The narrator - the old nurse of the title - is an old family retainer who has worked in the service of the same family for three generations....

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....

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.

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....

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....

Brought to you by Penguin. This Penguin Classic is performed by Olivia Forrest. This definitive recording includes an introduction by Laura Keanzler. Elizabeth Gaskell's chilling Gothic tales blend the real and the supernatural to eerie, compelling effect. 'Disappearances', inspired by local...

Cousin Phillis – a miniature masterpiece – is set in the 1840s, when the coming of the railway was changing the face of England....