Wives and Daughters

by Elizabeth Gaskell

Overview

WIVES AND DAUGHTERS by Elizabeth Gaskell, originally serialized in Cornhill Magazine from 1864 to 1866, is one of her most popular works, a classic of British literature. Gaskell died just before finishing the novel, and it was completed by Frederick Greenwood.

Earnest and young Molly Gibson is at the heart of the story of family relationships, family secrets, and unrequited love and longing, spanning Victorian middle class and genteel society. When her widower father decides to remarry, Molly gains a shallow stepmother and a beautiful and sparkling stepsister Cynthia who becomes her unwitting rival for the love of Roger Hamley, the younger son of the local squire.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781934648537
Publisher:	Norilana Books
Publication date:	04/26/2008
Pages:	624
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.50(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. THE DAWN OF A GALA DAY
II. A NOVICE AMONGST THE GREAT FOLK
III. MOLLY GIBSON'S CHILDHOOD
IV. MR. GIBSON'S NEIGHBOURS
V. CALF-LOVE
VI. A VISIT TO THE HAMLEYS
VII. FORESHADOWS OF LOVE PERILS
VIII. DRIFTING INTO DANGER
IX. THE WIDOWER AND THE WIDOW
X. A CRISIS
XI. MAKING FRIENDSHIP
XII. PREPARING FOR THE WEDDING
XIII. MOLLY GIBSON'S NEW FRIENDS
XIV. MOLLY FINDS HERSELF PATRONISED
XV. THE NEW MAMMA
XVI. THE BRIDE AT HOME
XVII. TROUBLE AT HAMLEY HALL
XVIII. MR. OSBORNE'S SECRET
XIX. CYNTHIA'S ARRIVAL
XX. MRS. GIBSON'S VISITORS
XXI. THE HALF-SISTERS
XXII. THE OLD SQUIRE'S TROUBLES
XXIII. OSBORNE HAMLEY REVIEWS HIS POSITION
XXIV. MRS. GIBSON'S LITTLE DINNER
XXV. HOLLINGFORD IN A BUSTLE
XXVI. A CHARITY BALL
XXVII. FATHER AND SONS
XXVIII. RIVALRY
XXIX. BUSH-FIGHTING
XXX. OLD WAYS AND NEW WAYS
XXXI. A PASSIVE COQUETTE
XXXII. COMING EVENTS
XXXIII. BRIGHTENING PROSPECTS
XXXIV. A LOVER'S MISTAKE
XXXV. THE MOTHER'S MANŒUVRE
XXXVI. DOMESTIC DIPLOMACY
XXXVII. A FLUKE, AND WHAT CAME OF IT
XXXVIII. MR. KIRKPATRICK, Q.C.
XXXIX. SECRET THOUGHTS OOZE OUT
XL. MOLLY GIBSON BREATHES FREELY
XLI. GATHERING CLOUDS
XLII. THE STORM BURSTS
XLIII. CYNTHIA'S CONFESSION
XLIV. MOLLY GIBSON TO THE RESCUE
XLV. CONFIDENCES
XLVI. HOLLINGFORD GOSSIPS
XLVII. SCANDAL AND ITS VICTIMS
XLVIII. AN INNOCENT CULPRIT
XLIX. MOLLY GIBSON FINDS A CHAMPION
L. CYNTHIA AT BAY
LI. "TROUBLES NEVER COME ALONE"
LII. SQUIRE HAMLEY'S SORROW
LIII. UNLOOKED-FOR ARRIVALS
LIV. MOLLY GIBSON'S WORTH IS DISCOVERED
LV. AN ABSENT LOVER RETURNS
LVI. "OFF WITH THE OLD LOVE, AND ON WITH THE NEW"
LVII. BRIDAL VISITS AND ADIEUX
LVIII. REVIVING HOPES AND BRIGHTENING PROSPECTS
LIX. MOLLY GIBSON AT HAMLEY HALL
LX. ROGER HAMLEY'S CONFESSION
CONCLUDING REMARKS [By the Editor of the "Cornhill Magazine."]

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"No nineteenth-century novel contains a more devastating rejection than this of the Victorian male assumption of moral authority."
—Pam Morris

Editorial Reviews

"My dear Scheherazade . . . I am sure your powers of narrative can never be exhausted in a single night, but must be good for at least a thousand nights and one."  —Charles Dickens



"Her stories are wonderfully funny, but the ridiculous is bathed in a poignant, dreamlike mood found nowhere else in fiction, and profound ideas and strong values sleep beneath everyday details of bonnets and cakes."  —Jenny Uglow, author, The Lunar Men

From the Publisher

The eternal theme of thwarted love and scheming ambition is set in the microcosm of a provincial British village. Replete with nineteenth-century social values and hierarchies, Gaskell's important work follows the life of Molly Gibson. When her father remarries, Molly's life becomes complicated by a worldly and impetuous stepsister and a snobbish stepmother. Gaskell's vivid prose captures the period's formality and evokes images of bygone lifestyles and environs. Narrator Patience Tomlinson possesses an astonishing vocal range—from the high pitches of youth to the gruff basses of elderly gentlemen. Her portrayals of the novel's many characters and dialects are distinctive, making all the characters identifiable in terms of their age, gender, and station. Tomlinson's expressiveness keeps the listener spellbound. A.W. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

SEPTEMBER 2010 - AudioFile