The Complete Novels of Elizabeth Gaskell (eBook)

Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, née Stevenson (1810–1865), was a prominent English novelist and short story writer during the Victorian era. Her literary oeuvre offers a detailed portrayal of the lives of many strata of society, including the very poor, and is noted for its thoughtful, sympathetic use of both humor and pathos. Gaskell was born on September 29, 1810, in London, and grew up in Knutsford, Cheshire, which later became the basis for her fictional town of Cranford. Her first novel, 'Mary Barton' (1848), garnered immediate acclaim for its poignant examination of the divide between rich and poor in industrial Manchester. Gaskell's perhaps most famous work, 'North and South' (1855), contrasts the rural south with the industrial north of England and addresses themes of class conflict and gender roles with nuance and insight. Another notable work, 'Wives and Daughters' (1865), was left unfinished at her death but stands as a finely tuned study of mid-Victorian provincial life. Gaskell's 'Cranford' (1853), a masterfully crafted series of interlinked stories, has gained a place in the canon as a charming and comedic study of the lives and social dynamics of single and widowed women. Her biography 'The Life of Charlotte Brontë' (1857) remains a seminal resource and was groundbreaking in its candid portrayal of the personal life of a fellow female author. Gaskell's work is marked by her keen observation, her use of regional dialect, her interest in social reform, and her commitment to realism, rendering her an important voice in English literature and a bridge between the Romantic and Victorian literary traditions.