Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865) was a well known British novelist at one of the peak eras for female writers in England. A novelist and short story writer at the height of the Victorian Era, Gaskell's novels weave a comprehensive, detailed image of the lives of all kinds of different classes in society during that age, ranging from the very poor to the cream of the aristocratic crop. Of course, given the era in which she wrote, Mrs. Gaskell's writing included a wonderful style of prose that still continues to please literary ...
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Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865) was a well known British novelist at one of the peak eras for female writers in England. A novelist and short story writer at the height of the Victorian Era, Gaskell's novels weave a comprehensive, detailed image of the lives of all kinds of different classes in society during that age, ranging from the very poor to the cream of the aristocratic crop. Of course, given the era in which she wrote, Mrs. Gaskell's writing included a wonderful style of prose that still continues to please literary critics, even while discussing the general themes of the day like religion and poverty. While novels like North and South dazzled readers, her short stories, particularly Gothic ghost stories, caught the eye of no less a writer than Charles Dickens, who helped get her stories published during the middle of the 19th century.
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If you like period pieces about England, you will love this author. She writes much like Bronte, Dickens etc. and was one if not the first to be published in England in the early 18 hundreds quite an accomlishment for a woman in those days.
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Jan 28, 2010
Mary Barton
This is an old-fashioned book written about the appalling conditions workers in the Lancashire cotton mills faced. There were no unions to protect the working men and women; being laid off meant scrounging for everything and living in sub-standard dwellings. I enjoyed the style of the book and learned a lot about the history of the cotton mills as well.