Elizabeth Gaskell

The Industrial Revolution Is Upon the Victorian Society

"I wish I could tell you how lonely I am. How cold and harsh it is here. Everywhere there is conflict and unkindness. I think God has forsaken this place. I believe I have seen hell and it's white, it's snow-white." - Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South

Forced to move from the traditional southern England to the north, in the industrialized Milton, Margaret Hale slowly but

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When John Barton's wife dies, he is forced to raise his daughter, Mary, alone, while he grieves the love of his life. Though he is a hard-working man, John struggles to provide for his family. Realizing how unfair his financial situation is, John becomes very resentful towards the unethical distribution of wealth between the social classes. Against John's wishes, when Mary comes of age, she decides to help support their family by working in a dressmaking...

Ruth is a young orphaned girl who works in a sweatshop. Mrs. Mason, Ruth's boss, runs the sweatshop in a respectable manner, earning a sterling reputation among her employees and society. However, the comfort and acclaim of Ruth's job is threatened when she attends a ball to repair any dresses that get torn during dancing. There, she meets an aristocratic man named Henry Bellingham, who is infamous for his immoral treatment of women and frivolous...

An unforgettable story of love and strife set during the industrial revolution After a decade spent living with her aunt in London, nineteen-year-old Margaret Hale returns home to her beloved village of Helstone only to discover that her pastor father has had a crisis of faith and is moving the family to the North of England. In the industrial town of Milton, Margaret is horrified by the dirty air, the shocking poverty, and the pervasive mistreatment...

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This Penguin Classic is performed by Gemma Whelan, best known for her roles in Game of Thrones, Gentleman Jack and Upstart Crow. This definitive recording includes an Introduction by Patricia Ingham.
When her father leaves the Church, 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

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A writer of remarkably diverse talents, Elizabeth Gaskell produced fiction and non-fiction ranging from short stories that offered detailed cross-sections of Victorian life and society to a well-regarded biography of author Charlotte Bronte. The novel A Dark Night's Work is the engrossing apogee of Gaskell's foray into Gothic ghost stories and tales of horror. Fans of these genres won't be disappointed. As part of our mission to publish great works...

Set in a coastal English town during the early phases of the Napoleonic Wars in the 1790s, Sylvia's Lovers follows the complicated love life of a young woman. Sylvia Robson lives a very happy life with her parents on a farm. Her cousin, a kind but dull Quaker man named Philip, loves her dearly, but Sylvia's heart is captured by a handsome sailor named Charlie. As they grow closer, Charlie and Sylvia become secretly engaged. However, when Charlie is...

The Poor Clare is a short story by English Victorian writer Elizabeth Gaskell. First serialised in three installments in 1856 Charles Dickens' popular magazine Household Words, The Poor Clare is a gothic ghost story about a young woman unwittingly cursed by her own grandmother. Squire Starkey, a recusant Jacobite, returns to Starkey Manor with his Irish wife and their son Patrick. Accompanying them

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A mother searches for her missing daughter in this short tale of love and Victorian morality from the author of Cranford and North and South. Eager to see the world, young Lizzie Leigh leaves her childhood home behind to work in Manchester, England. Sadly, she is soon led astray and finds herself pregnant with an illegitimate child. After she abandons her job, her family discovers what she has done. Her father, James, is ashamed and declares her...