Cranford

by Elizabeth Gaskell

Overview

In this classic portrait of life in a quiet English village of the early nineteenth century, Elizabeth Gaskell writes with wit and affection of the foibles, follies and endearing eccentricities of its occupants as they struggle to maintain standards in their genteel poverty. This witty and poignant comedy, with its ironic observations on the pretensions of class is told through the eyes of a young woman who befriends the elderly ladies of Cranford.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781490514031
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	06/24/2013
Pages:	158
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.34(d)

About the Author

Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell (1810-1865) was an English author who wrote biographies, short stories, and novels. Because her work often depicted the lives of Victorian society, including the individual effects of the Industrial Revolution, Gaskell has impacted the fields of both literature and history. While Gaskell is now a revered author, she was criticized and overlooked during her lifetime, dismissed by other authors and critics because of her gender. However, after her death, Gaskell earned a respected legacy and is credited to have paved the way for feminist movements.

Table of Contents

I	Our Society	1
II	The Captain	9
III	A Love Affair of Long Ago	20
IV	A Visit to an Old Bachelor	26
V	Old Letters	35
VI	Poor Peter	43
VII	Visiting	52
VIII	"Your Ladyship"	59
IX	Signor Brunoni	69
X	The Panic	76
XI	Samuel Brown	87
XII	Engaged to Be Married	95
XIII	Stopped Payment	101
XIV	Friends in Need	110
XV	A Happy Return	123
XVI	Peace to Cranford	132

Editorial Reviews

Elizabeth Langland’s edition of Cranford is likely to introduce a new generation of readers to the pleasures of Gaskell’s most delightful but least immediately appreciated novel. By including in her appendices of historical materials choice selections from conduct books and writings on political and domestic economy, as well as in her informed, accessible introduction, Langland demonstrates that, appearances aside, the world of Cranford is firmly located in its Victorian context and addresses, however obliquely, some of the most intractable problems of its age—and of ours.” — Eileen Gillooly, Columbia University

From the Publisher

"Elizabeth Langland's edition of Cranford is likely to introduce a new generation of readers to the pleasures of Gaskell's most delightful but least immediately appreciated novel. By including in her appendices of historical materials choice selections from conduct books and writings on political and domestic economy, as well as in her informed, accessible introduction, Langland demonstrates that, appearances aside, the world of Cranford is firmly located in its Victorian context and addresses, however obliquely, some of the most intractable problems of its age—and of ours."

Eileen Gillooly Columbia University

Clare Wille’s performance of this gently satirical look at a genteel English village in the first half of the nineteenth century may be the wittiest I’ve ever heard. Like a kinder version of E.F. Benson’s Mapp v. Lucia novels, Gaskell’s ladies of Cranford have their jealousies and their vanities. They also have moments of quiet tragedy (a lost brother, a suitor rejected to please the family but never forgotten) and of high drama. Wille made me laugh aloud at the pompous trumpeting of the late Reverend Jenkins. When Miss Poe comes in out of breath, you could swear Wille was running up stairs while delivering her lines. Her performance is always fully engaged, at one with the story, which is itself a small gem. B.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

AUGUST 2008 - AudioFile