Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell

When Paul Manning begins working as an engineer clerk for the railroad, he decides to move in with his mother's family on their farm. There, he is able to be closer to his job as the railroad paves the way for further industrialization of rural areas. While Paul is advancing in his career and settling in his new home, his attention is held by his cousin, Phillis. Paul and Phillis become quick friends and confidants. Worried for her, Paul keeps a close...

A lawyer's search for a missing heir has him dealing with curses, demons, and nuns in this chilling gothic tale by the author of Mary Barton. A London lawyer is hired to locate the rightful heir to a sizeable estate in Ireland. His search leads him to Bridget Fitzgerald, a lonely Catholic housekeeper with an affinity for magic. Then he meets a beautiful young woman named Lucy who lives a pious life on the moors. When the lawyer becomes smitten and...

In "Gothic Tales", Elizabeth Gaskell, the eminent Victorian author, brings us nine chilling gothic stories. Collected here are tales that set a precedent for ghost and horror stories of the era. In "The Poor Clare" a young innocent girl named Lucy is haunted by an unrelenting ghost invoked by her aging grandmother. In the novella "Lois the Witch" the young Lois sails to America to join her distant family. She is greeted by a New England engulfed in...

Moving from the industrial riots of discontented millworkers through to the unsought passions of a middle-class woman, and from religious crises of conscience to the ethics of naval mutiny, the novel poses fundamental questions about the nature of social authority and obedience. Through the story of Margaret Hale, the middle-class southerner who moves to the northern industrial town of Milton, Gaskell skilfully explores issues of class and gender...

Life in the small English town of Cranford seems very quiet and peaceful. The ladies of Cranford lead tidy, regular lives. they make visits between the hours of twelve and three, give little evening parties, and worry about their maid-servants. But life is not always smooth -- there are little arguments and jealousies, sudden deaths and unexpected marriages ... Mrs. Gaskell's timeless picture of small-town life in the first half of the nineteenth...

Set in a richly portrayed society well-stocked with eccentric nobles and gossipy villagers, this story centers around 17-year-old Molly Gibson, the only daughter of a respected country doctor. The well-ordered world of Molly's childhood is soon to be complicated by new people and unexpected situations. Most devastating is her father's decision to remarry after many years of widowhood. Molly's faltering efforts to cope gracefully with an impossible...