When her father leaves the Church in a crisis of conscience, Margaret Hale is uprooted from her comfortable home in Hampshire to move with her family to the north of England. Initially repulsed by the ugliness of her new surroundings in the industrial town of Milton, Margaret becomes aware of the poverty and suffering of the local mill workers and develops a passionate sense of social justice. This is intensified by her tempestuous relationship with the mill-owner and self-made man, John Thornton, as their fierce opposition over his treatment of his employees masks a deeper attraction. In North and South, Elizabeth Gaskell skillfully fuses individual feeling with social concern, and in Margaret Hale creates one of the most original heroines of Victorian literature.

The afternoon sun shed down his glorious rays on the grassy churchyard, making the shadow, cast by the old yew-tree under which we sat, seem deeper and deeper by contrast. The everlasting hum of myriads of summer insects made luxurious lullaby. Of the view that lay beneath our gaze, I cannot speak adequately. The foreground was the grey-stone wall of the Vicarage garden; rich in the colouring made by innumberable lichens, ferns, ivy of most tender green and most delicate tracery, and the vivid scarlet of the crane’s-bill, which found a home in every nook and crevice — and at the summit of that old wall flaunted some unpruned tendrils of the vine, and long flower-laden branches of the climbing rose-tree, trained against the inner side. Beyond, lay meadow green and mountain grey,and the blue dazzle of Morecambe Bay, as it sparkled between us and the more distant view. For a while we were silent, living in sight and murmuring sound. Then Jeremy took up our conversation where, suddenly feeling weariness, as we saw that deep green shadowy resting-place, we had ceased speaking a quarter of an hour before. It is one of the luxuries of holiday-time that thoughts are not rudely shaken from us by outward violence of hurry and busy impatience, but fall maturely from our lips in the sunny leisure of our days. The stock may be bad, but the fruit is ripe

A poignant tale about illicit love, regret ending in delight. It deals with the story of a young girl Lizzie who commits a sin and its repercussions. Gaskell brilliantly portraits the deep and true relations of a family and ends the story with a moving reunion. Touching and emotional!

A departure from the stories Elizabeth Gaskell wrote for Charles Dickens’s Household Words magazine, The Poor Clare is a dark, gothic novella of thwarted love and a family curse that vividly illustrates the social tensions of Victorian England. The purposeful slaying of lonely Bridget’s beloved dog unleashes a torrent of rage that surges down through the generations. In her desire for revenge, Bridget utters a fearsome curse upon the dog’s killer: All that the murderer loves most, he will lose. This haunting story of “the sins of the father being visited upon the children” brilliantly shows off Gaskell’s pioneering understanding of the tensions between Catholics and Protestants, and the harsh realities of class society. The Poor Clare stands as an innovative and exciting gem in Elizabeth Gaskell’s oeuvre. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Lady Ludlow is absolute mistress of Hanbury Court and a resolute opponent of anything that might disturb the class system into which she was born. She will keep no servant who can read and write and insists that the lower orders have no rights, but only duties. But the winds of change are blowing through the village of Hanbury. The vicar, Mr. Gray, wishes to start a Sunday school for religious reasons; Mr. Horner wants to educate the citizens for economic reasons. But Lady Ludlow is not as rigid as one may think.

Set against the backdrop of the Salem witch hunts, Elizabeth Gaskell’s somber novella reveals much about the complicity of mankind. Recently orphaned, Lois is forced to leave the English parsonage that had been her home and sail to America. A God-fearing and honest girl, she has little to concern her in this new life. Yet as she joins her distant family, she finds jealousy and dissension are rife, and her cousins quick to point the finger at the “imposter.” With the whole of Salem gripped by a fear of the supernatural, it seems her new home is where she is in most danger. Lonely and afraid, the words of an old curse return to haunt her. Collaborator and friend of Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins, Elizabeth Gaskell is a leading figure in Victorian literature.

This is the Complete Works of Elizabeth Gaskell, with illustrations and a comprehensive scope of her many works. This is the only eBook available with every novel, novella, short story – even the very rare ones – poem, and much more! (Current version: 4)* brief but informative introductions to the novels and other texts* ALL 6 novels and ALL 7 novellas, each with their own contents table* images of film and television adaptations* BONUS original illustrations for ‘Wives and Daughters’ – give your eReader a taste of the Victorian text!*ALL 48 short stories, with excellent formatting* includes Gaskell’s poetry, printed in Dickens’ magazines* Gaskell’s scholarly biography on Charlotte Brontë, with its own contents table* SPECIAL BONUS text of Rev. George A. Payne’s semi-biography of Gaskell – explore her beautiful town of Knutsford* many images relating to Gaskell’s life, works and the places she lived in* scholarly ordering of texts into chronological order and literary genres* front no-nonsense table of contents to allow easy navigation around Gaskell’s oeuvre. CONTENTS: The NovelsMARY BARTONCRANFORDRUTHNORTH AND SOUTHSYLVIA’S LOVERSWIVES AND DAUGHTERS The Novellas:THE MOORLAND COTTAGEMR. HARRISON’S CONFESSIONSLIZZIE LEIGHMY LADY LUDLOWLOIS THE WITCHA DARK NIGHT’S WORKCOUSIN PHILLIS The Short Stories:A FEAR FOR THE FUTURE, A HOUSE TO LET, A VISIT TO ETON, AN ACCURSED RACE, AN ITALIAN INSTITUTION, BESSY’S TROUBLES AT HOME, THE CAGE,  AT CRANFORD CHRISTMAS,  STORMS AND SUNSHINE, CLOPTON HALL, COMPANY MANNERS, THE CROOKED BRANCH, CROWLEY CASTLE, CUMBERLAND SHEEP-SHEARERS, CURIOUS, IF TRUE, THE DESERTED MANSION, DISAPPEARANCES, THE DOOM OF THE GRIFFITHS, FRENCH LIFE, THE GREY WOMAN, HALF A LIFE-TIME AGO, THE HALF-BROTHERS, HAND AND HEART, THE HAUNTED HOUSE, THE HEART OF JOHN MIDDLETON, THE LAST GENERATION IN ENGLAND, LIBBIE MARSH’S THREE ERAS, THE MANCHESTER MARRIAGE, MARTHA PRESTON, MODERN GREEK SONGS, MORTON HALL, MY FRENCH MASTER, THE OLD NURSE’S STORY, THE POOR CLARE, RIGHT AT LAST, ROUND THE SOFA, THE SEXTON’S HERO, THE SHAH’S ENGLISH GARDENERS, HAMS, SIX WEEKS AT HEPPENHEIM, SOME PASSAGES FROM THE HISTORY OF THE CHOMLEY FAMILY, THE SQUIRE’S STORY, TRAITS AND STORIES OF THE HUGUENOTS, TWO FRAGMENTS OF GHOST STORIES, UNCLE PETER, THE WELL OF PENMORFA The Poetry BRANTHE SCHOLAR’S STORYSKETCHES AMONG THE POOR, NO. I                                         The Biography THE LIFE OF CHARLOTTE BRONTË Payne’s Biography MRS. GASKELL AND KNUTSFORD BY REV. GEORGE A. PAYNEPlease visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting titles.

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

Based on three Elizabeth Gaskell novels "The Cranford Chronicles" follows the small absurdities and major tragedies in the lives of the people of Cranford, a small Cheshire market town, during one extraordinary year. In this witty and poignant story the railway is pushing its way relentlessly towards the town from Manchester, bringing fears of migrant workers and the breakdown of law and order. The arrival of handsome young Doctor Harrison causes yet further agitation not just because of his revolutionary methods but also because of his effect on the hearts of the ladies. Meanwhile Miss Matty Jenkyns nurses her own broken heart after she was forced to give up the man she loved when she was a young girl.

In Ruth Elizabeth Gaskell set out to portray, not 'the Condition of England' already famously addressed in Mary Barton, but the nature and sensibility of a fallen woman. Her orphaned heroine Ruth, apprenticed to a dressmaker, is seduced and then abandoned by wealthy young Henry Bellingham. Shamed in the eyes of society by her illegitimate son, and yet rejecting the opportunity to marry her seducer, Ruth finds a path that affirms we are not bound to repeat our mistakes. When Ruth, Elizabeth Gaskell's second novel, appeared in 1853 its first reviewers were less scandalized than moved and intrigued. In considering a 'fallen woman', Gaskell explores the worlds of nineteenth-century experience concerned with women and family, sexuality, love and religion. She declared of her critics: 'It has made them talk and think a little on a subject which is so painful it requires all one's bravery not to hide one's head like an ostrich.'.

'I see her now - cousin Phillis. The westering sun shone full upon her, and made a slanting stream of light into the room within.' Elizabeth Gaskell has long been one of the most popular of Victorian novelists, yet in her lifetime her shorter fictions were equally well loved, and they are among the most accomplished examples of the genre. The novella-length Cousin Phillis is a lyrical depiction of a vanishing way of life and a girl's disappointment in love: deceptively simple, its undercurrent of feeling leaves an indelible impression. The other five stories in this selection were all written during the 1850sfor Dickens's periodical Household Words. They range from a quietly original tale of urban poverty and a fallen woman in 'Lizzie Leigh' to an historical tale of a great family in 'Morton Hall'; echoes of the French Revolution, the bleakness of winter in Westmorland, and a tragic secret are brought vividly tolife. Heather Glen reflects on the stories' original periodical...

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

The novel begins in the 1790s in the coastal town of Monkshaven (modeled on Whitby, England) against the background of the practice of impressment during the early phases of the Napoleonic Wars. Sylvia Robson lives happily with her parents on a farm, and is passionately loved by her rather dull Quaker cousin Philip. She, however, meets and falls in love with Charlie Kinraid, a dashing sailor on a whaling vessel, and they become secretly engaged. When Kinraid goes back to his ship, he is forcibly enlisted in the Royal Navy by a press gang, a scene witnessed by Philip. Philip does not tell Sylvia of the incident nor relay to her Charlie's parting message and, believing her lover is dead, Sylvia eventually marries her cousin. This act is primarily prompted out of gratefulness for Philip's assistance during a difficult time following her father's imprisonment and subsequent execution for leading a revengeful raid on press-gang collaborators. They have a daughter. Inevitably, Kinraid returns to claim Sylvia and she discovers that Philip knew all the time that he was still alive. Philip leaves her in despair at her subsequent rage and rejection, but she refuses to live with Kinraid because of her child.

Classic short story. According to Wikipedia: "Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell ( 1810 – 1865), often referred to simply as Mrs. Gaskell, was an English novelist and short story writer during the Victorian era. She is perhaps best known for her biography of Charlotte Brontë. Her novels offer a detailed portrait of the lives of many strata of society, including the very poor, and as such are of interest to social historians as well as lovers of literature."