Elizabeth Gaskell Popular Books
Elizabeth Gaskell Biography & Facts
Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell (née Stevenson; 29 September 1810 – 12 November 1865), often referred to as Mrs Gaskell, was an English novelist, biographer, and short story writer. Her novels offer a detailed portrait of the lives of many strata of Victorian society, including the very poor. Her first novel, Mary Barton, was published in 1848. Gaskell's The Life of Charlotte Brontë, published in 1857, was the first biography of Charlotte Brontë. In this biography, she wrote only of the moral, sophisticated things in Brontë's life; the rest she omitted, deciding certain, more salacious aspects were better kept hidden. Among Gaskell's best known novels are Cranford (1851–1853), North and South (1854–1855), and Wives and Daughters (1864–1866), all of which were adapted for television by the BBC. Early life Gaskell was born Elizabeth Cleghorn Stevenson on 29 September 1810 in Lindsey Row, Chelsea, London, now 93 Cheyne Walk. The doctor who delivered her was Anthony Todd Thomson, whose sister Catherine later became Gaskell's stepmother. She was the youngest of eight children; only she and her brother John survived infancy. Her father, William Stevenson, a Unitarian from Berwick-upon-Tweed, was minister at Failsworth, Lancashire, but resigned his orders on conscientious grounds. He moved to London in 1806 on the understanding that he would be appointed private secretary to the Earl of Lauderdale, who was to become Governor General of India. That position did not materialise, however, and Stevenson was nominated Keeper of the Treasury Records. His wife, Elizabeth Holland, came from a family established in Lancashire and Cheshire that was connected with other prominent Unitarian families, including the Wedgwoods, the Martineaus, the Turners and the Darwins. When she died 13 months after giving birth to Gaskell, her husband sent the baby to live with Elizabeth's sister, Hannah Lumb, in Knutsford, Cheshire. Her father remarried to Catherine Thomson, in 1814. They had a son, William, in 1815, and a daughter, Catherine, in 1816. Although Elizabeth spent several years without seeing her father, to whom she was devoted, her older brother John often visited her in Knutsford. John was destined for the Royal Navy from an early age, like his grandfathers and uncles, but he did not obtain preferment into the Service and had to join the Merchant Navy with the East India Company's fleet. John went missing in 1827 during an expedition to India. Character and influences Much of Elizabeth's childhood was spent in Cheshire, where she lived with her aunt Hannah Lumb in Knutsford, the town she immortalized as Cranford. They lived in a large red-brick house called The Heath (now Heathwaite). Elizabeth grew to be a beautiful young woman, well-groomed, tidily dressed, kind, gentle, and considerate of others. Her temperament was calm and collected, joyous and innocent, she revelled in the simplicity of rural life. From 1821 to 1826 she attended a school in Warwickshire run by the Misses Byerley, first at Barford and from 1824 at Avonbank outside Stratford-on-Avon, where she received the traditional education in arts, the classics, decorum and propriety given to young ladies from relatively wealthy families at the time. Her aunts gave her the classics to read, and she was encouraged by her father in her studies and writing. Her brother John sent her modern books, and descriptions of his life at sea and his experiences abroad. After leaving school at the age of 16, Elizabeth travelled to London to spend time with her Holland cousins. She also spent some time in Newcastle upon Tyne (with the Rev William Turner's family) and from there made the journey to Edinburgh. Her stepmother's brother was the miniature artist William John Thomson, who in 1832 painted her portrait (see top right). A bust was sculpted by David Dunbar at the same time. Married life and writing career On 30 August 1832 Elizabeth married Unitarian minister William Gaskell, in Knutsford. They spent their honeymoon in North Wales, staying with her uncle, Samuel Holland, at Plas-yn-Penrhyn near Porthmadog. The Gaskells then settled in Manchester, where William was the minister at Cross Street Unitarian Chapel and longest-serving Chair of the Portico Library. Manchester's industrial surroundings and books borrowed from the library influenced Elizabeth's writing in the industrial genre. Their first daughter was stillborn in 1833. Their other children were Marianne (1834), Margaret Emily, known as Meta (1837), Florence Elizabeth (1842), and Julia Bradford (1846). Marianne and Meta boarded at the private school conducted by Rachel Martineau, sister of Harriet, a close friend of Elizabeth. Florence married Charles Crompton, a barrister and Liberal politician, in 1863. In March 1835 Gaskell began a diary documenting the development of her daughter Marianne: she explored parenthood, the values she placed on her role as a mother; her faith, and, later, relations between Marianne and her sister, Meta. In 1836 she co-authored with her husband a cycle of poems, Sketches among the Poor, which was published in Blackwood's Magazine in January 1837. In 1840 William Howitt published Visits to Remarkable Places containing a contribution entitled Clopton Hall by "A Lady", the first work written and published solely by her. In April 1840 Howitt published The Rural Life of England, which included a second work titled Notes on Cheshire Customs. In July 1841, the Gaskells travelled to Belgium and Germany. German literature came to have a strong influence on her short stories, the first of which she published in 1847 as Libbie Marsh's Three Eras, in Howitt's Journal, under the pseudonym "Cotton Mather Mills". But other influences including Adam Smith's Social Politics enabled a much wider understanding of the cultural milieu in which her works were set. Her second story printed under the pseudonym was The Sexton's Hero. And she made her last use of it in 1848, with the publication of her story Christmas Storms and Sunshine. For some 20 years beginning in 1843, the Gaskells took holidays at Silverdale on Morecambe Bay, and in particular stayed at Lindeth Tower. Daughters Meta and Julia later built a house, "The Shieling", in Silverdale. A son, William, (1844–45), died in infancy, and this tragedy was the catalyst for Gaskell's first novel, Mary Barton. It was ready for publication in October 1848, shortly before they made the move south. It was an enormous success, selling thousands of copies. Ritchie called it a "great and remarkable sensation." It was praised by Thomas Carlyle and Maria Edgeworth. She brought the teeming slums of manufacturing in Manchester alive to readers as yet unacquainted with crowded narrow alleyways. Her obvious depth of feeling was evident, while her turn of phrase and description was described as the greatest since Jane Austen. In 1850, the Gaskells moved to a villa at 84 Plymouth Grove. She took her cow with .... Discover the Elizabeth Gaskell popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Elizabeth Gaskell books.
Best Seller Elizabeth Gaskell Books of 2024
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Prudence
Jilly Cooper OBEFall in love with Jilly Cooper, one of Britain's most popular authors, in this fabulously frothy romcom. Fans of Jojo Moyes, Marian Keyes, Dolly Alderton and Jane Fallon will love ...
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No Time At All
Susan SallisTwo disabled children love their new bungalow by the sea. It even has its own spectral steamtrain which only they can hear each night. The train holds many mysteries which will cha...
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Middlemarch
George Eliot & Rosemary AshtonOne of the BBC's '100 Novels That Shaped Our World''One of the few English novels written for grownup people' Virginia WoolfGeorge Eliot's nuanced and moving novel is a masterly ev...
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Kim
Rudyard KiplingKipling's epic rendition of the imperial experience in India is also his greatest long work. Two men Kim, a boy growing into early manhood, and the lama, an old ascetic priest ar...
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Aurora Leigh and Other Poems
Elizabeth BrowningAurora Leigh (1856), Elizabeth Barrett Browning's epic novel in blank verse, tells the story of the making of a woman poet, exploring 'the woman question', art and its relation to ...
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Imogen
Jilly Cooper OBEFall in love with Jilly Cooper, one of Britain's most popular authors, in this delightfully lighthearted pageturner of a romcom. Fans of Jojo Moyes, Marian Keyes, Dolly Alderton an...
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Harriet
Jilly Cooper OBEThe lighthearted, hilarious and gorgeous novel centring on the trials of the bashful but beautiful Harriet. Find out why Jilly Cooper is one of Britain most beloved authors...'No o...
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The Gods Will Have Blood
Anatole France & Frederick DaviesIt is April 1793 and the final power struggle of the French Revolution is taking hold: the aristocrats are dead and the poor are fighting for bread in the streets. In a Paris swept...
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Collected Memoirs, Letters and Literary Writings of Wilkie Collins
Wilkie CollinsThis carefully crafted ebook: "Collected Memoirs, Letters and Literary Writings of Wilkie Collins" is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of con...
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Big Book of Best Short Stories - Specials - Fantasy
Kenneth Grahame, Lord Dunsany, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Oscar Wilde, John Kendrick Bangs & August NemoThis book contains 25 short stories from 5 classic, prizewinning and noteworthy authors. The stories were carefully selected by the critic August Nemo, in a collection that will pl...
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The Eustace Diamonds
Anthony Trollope & Stephen GillFollowing the death of her husband Sir Florian, beautiful Lizzie Eustace mysteriously comes into possession of a hugely expensive diamond necklace. She maintains it was a gift from...
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Elizabeth Gaskell
John McVeaghFirst published in 1970, this study demonstrates both the range and essential unity of the works of Mrs. Gaskell. The author analyses the novels of social criticism, the biography ...
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The Man Who Was Thursday
G. K. ChestertonCan you trust yourself when you don't know who you are? In a park in London, secret policeman Gabriel Syme strikes up a conversation with an anarchist. Sworn to do his duty, Syme u...
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Emily
Jilly Cooper OBEull of irresistible romance and laughoutloud moments, this is perfect for fans of Jojo Moyes, Marian Keyes, Dolly Alderton and Jane Fallon.If Emily hadn't gone to Annie Richmond's ...
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London Labour and the London Poor
Victor Neuburg & Henry MayhewLondon Labour and the London Poor originated in a series of newspaper articles written by the great journalist Henry Mayhew between 1849 and 1850. A dozen years later, it had grown...
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Octavia
Jilly Cooper OBEFall in love with Jilly Cooper, one of Britain's most popular authors, in this upbeat and unmissable romcom. Octavia is used to having anything (or anyone) she wants but will she ...
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Delphi Complete Works of Elizabeth Gaskell
Elizabeth GaskellElizabeth Gaskell’s novels offer a detailed portrait of the lives of many strata of Victorian society, raising important social issues of the world around her. This comprehensive e...
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Marion Fay
Anthony TrollopeMarion Fay relates two contrasting love affairs, each involving an aristocrat and a commoner! Marion Fay, a Quaker and daughter of a City clerk is being passionately pursued by the...
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Piers the Ploughman
William LanglandWritten by a fourteenthcentury cleric, this spiritual allegory explores man in relation to his ultimate destiny against the background of teeming, colorful medieval life.
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Works of Elizabeth Gaskell
Elizabeth GaskellThis collection was designed for optimal navigation on iPad and other electronic devices. It is indexed alphabetically, chronologically and by category, making it easier to access...
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The Short Stories Of Elizabeth Gaskell - Volume 2
Elizabeth GaskellElizabeth Gaskell is equally well known as Mrs Gaskell. When her mother died, she was three months old and she was sent to live in Knutsford, Cheshire with her Aunt Hannah, this se...
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Bella
Jilly Cooper OBEFall in love with Jilly Cooper, one of Britain's most popular authors, in this upbeat and hilarious romcom. Fans of Jojo Moyes, Marian Keyes, Dolly Alderton and Jane Fallon will lo...
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Elizabeth Gaskell
Angus EassonFirst published in 1979, this book looks at every aspect of the life and work of Elizabeth Gaskell, including her lesser known novels and writings especially those concerning life...
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Marie Grubbe
J. P. JacobsenMarie Grubbe is a historical psychological novel that treats woman as a being driven by instinct and desire. The protagonist, Marie, is a Danish noblewoman that has a yearning for ...
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The Collected Works of Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
Elizabeth Cleghorn GaskellThis comprehensive eBook presents the complete works or all the significant works the Œuvre of this famous and brilliant writer in one ebook 8338 pages easytoread and easytonavi...
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The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories
Michael NewtonThis terrifying selection of ghost stories brings together the very best classic works from the masters of the supernaturalPhantom coaches, evil familiars, shadowy houses, spectral...
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The Ambassadors
Henry James & Harry LevinConcerned that her son Chad may have become involved with a woman of dubious reputation, the formidable Mrs Newsome sends her 'ambassador' Strether from Massachusetts to Paris to e...
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The New Rector
Rebecca ShawThe first Turnham Malpas novel from bestselling author Rebecca Shaw.When Peter Harris arrives in Turnham Malpas as the new rector, he finds the village people welcoming but set in ...
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Elizabeth Gaskell
Nancy S. WeyantA great deal has been written about Elizabeth Gaskell in the last decade. This extensively annotated guide to the literature builds upon Weyant's 1994 work on Gaskell that covered ...
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Mary Barton
Elizabeth Gaskell<b>Mary Barton</b> by <b>Elizabeth Gaskell</b>: Elizabeth Gaskell's novel "Mary Barton" transports readers to the industrialized city of Manches...
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Jane Eyre
Charlotte BrontëJane Eyre is the inspiring heroine of one of the bestloved British novels of all time. ...