This book was cute and sweet and quite funny, which did surprise me. Although it took a little while for me to get used to the language (haven't read a classic in a while, and I usually find Gaskell's writing a little long-winded), it ended up becoming a much easier read than I anticipated. Once you are familiar with the cast of characters and their personalities, it is really enjoyable seeing what will happen to them next. In the view of Jenny Uglow, the novel chronicles social change, moving from one where consideration of rank was the foremost regulator of behaviour and social relations to a more humane emphasis on responding to individual need. "The small social group begins to encompass those hitherto banned on grounds of class" as the female arbiters of society grow from their initial illusion that their conservative values are effective guardians of gentility to a realisation that "kindness and concern for each other" are a more effective basis of mutual support. [11] Synopsis [ edit ] Hugh Thomson’s artwork for the 1891 edition of Cranford From the author of North and South and Mary Barton, Elizabeth Gaskell's Cranford is a standalone publication of Elizabeth Gaskell's best-known work, with a critical introduction by Patricia Ingham in Penguin Classics. Dr Hoggins – As the Cranford surgeon he is of uncertain social status and is discriminated against because of his "vulgar" surname. Theatrical adaptations of the novel began at the turn of the century, the first few of which were produced in the US. [14] Among these were Alice Byington's Cranford Dames, a play in five scenes (New York, 1900), [15] and Marguerite Merington's Cranford: A Play, a three-act comedy set in the time of William IV, (New York 1905). [16] Some of the later British examples were merely dramatic episodes and included "The Bank Breaks" by Arthur Phosphor Mallam (1872–1948), based on chapters 13–15 (1912); Guy Pertwee's "A Cranford Card Party" (1913); Harry Brighouse's 'Cranford sketch', "Followers" (1915); and Amy M. Robertson's "The Panic from Cranford" (1930), based on chapter 10. 1930 also saw the tangential 'play for boys', Higgins, the Highwayman of Cranford, by Ronald Gow.

Pollard, Arthur (1965). Mrs. Gaskell: Novelist and Biographer. Manchester University Press. p. 12. ISBN 0-674-57750-7. I started Cranford in low-expectation mode, as a piece of invalid reading, to read while I was languishing with a bad cold (the literary equivalent of the unalluring “bread-jelly” that one of the old-biddy protagonists of Elizabeth Gaskell’s 1853 novel likes to inflict on her ailing neighbours). “Cosy” is a rather offputting term used in book marketing, so you can have “cosy detective novels” and—more disturbingly—"cosy crime novels” and “cosy murder mysteries.” I had always had the impression that Cranford was a species of “cosy classic,” warmer and easier and less spiky than, say, Gaskell’s magnificent North and South (1854). Matus, Jill L., ed. (2007). The Cambridge companion to Elizabeth Gaskell (repr.ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521846769. , p. 9.All the episodes are cited in a satirical and hysterical tenor. Even the poignant episodes ensue into a happy ending. An Elizabeth Gaskell staycation". elizabethgaskellhouse.co.uk. 5 August 2020 . Retrieved 27 September 2022. This fictional city has an infallible religion of - abiding to the social-hierarchy and contempt for men. But the beauty of the novel is, though initially they speak of indifference towards men but nowhere there is a stern condemnation for men portrayed, rather in subtle gentle ways help towards their family is rendered and their wisdom/instruction is followed. Cranford is one of the better-known novels of the 19th-century English writer Elizabeth Gaskell. There is no real plot, but rather a collection of satirical sketches, which sympathetically portray changing small town customs and values in mid Victorian England. At first, I thought it is a collection of short stories. But as I read on, I found connectivity between the chapters so as to make it one continuous whole. Although there is no proper story, this collected writing was engaging enough to keep you reading on.

The way that the women all banded together even though they were a mix of classes, purely because they all wanted to live the same way was so precious. Cranford is a small town with a set social hierarchy runs by a group of older women. Mary Smith is the narrator of the novel and she knows everything about everyone, even if she is out of town, her friends write her letters and gives her all the updated information about the town. Miss Jenkyns’s younger sister, Miss Matty Jenkyns, a complete contrast to her sister, takes over the proceedings of Cranford from her sister. All upcoming public events are going ahead as planned and you can find more information on our events blog Cranford follows a group of women living in the small fictional town of, you guessed it, Cranford. The women live in "genteel poverty" and have very old-fashioned mindsets about life and social niceties and norms. The book is told from the perspective of Mary Smith (or Elizabeth Gaskell), and focuses mainly on Miss Matty, a sweet-tempered older woman who is one of the pillars of society since the death of her older, revered sister Deborah Jenkyns.Andrew Billen of The Times stated, "The cast was so strong it was almost distracting. But, as in any great ensemble, when the individuals came together nothing jarred ... This adaptation added up to even more than the sum of its considerable parts." [5] RTS Craft and Design Awards 2008". Royal Television Society. 24 January 2011 . Retrieved 23 July 2023. Another unmarried elderly Cranford lady, she has the reputation of being the most easy going and open minded of the social set, and she is the lady most open to welcoming strangers into the town. She is one of Matty Jenkys' best friends. The Honorable Mrs Jamieson

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, [3] 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. [15] Miss Matty Jenkyns is such a sweet and gentle person. She always thinks of others before self and tries to please everyone, sometimes to her own detriment. She exhibits very little self-pity, and when she caves to even the simplest bit of a well-deserved indulgence, she succumbs to guilt and remorse immediately. Her life has been about self-sacrifice and a bit of bullying by her older sister, but she is so non-judgmental and well-loved by others, that you feel her sacrifice has not been unrewarded. Matty is not a character I will easily forget. Gaskell, Elizabeth Cleghorn (1858). The Doom of the Griffiths (annotated). Interactive Media. pp.introduction. ISBN 978-1-911495-12-3. OCLC 974343914. Captain Brown incurs the ire of Deborah Jenkyns because he commits one social faux pas after another, but is too naive to realize that he is doing anything wrong. He is very poor and admits to this publicly which is just not the thing to do. However, although he is financially destitute he has an amazing generosity of spirit and puts others before himself. He and his younger daughter often go without the basic necessities so that they can make his older daughter's life more comfortable as she suffers with a debilitating illness. He is a kind man who takes the time to really listen to the women of Cranford so that he can be of help or service to them. He dies unexpectedly very early in the book. Miss BrownThe railway construction approaches nearer to Lady Ludlow's estate but, instead of selling land to the railway, she mortgages her property to support her ne'er-do-well son Septimus, who is living in Italy. The Gaskell Society Journal, Volume 22". The Gaskell Society. 2008. p.57 . Retrieved 25 April 2017. Meta (Margaret Emily), the second daughter, was sent at about the same age as Marianne to Miss Rachel Martineau, ... {{ cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= ( help) In the early 21st century, with Gaskell's work "enlisted in contemporary negotiations of nationhood as well as gender and class identities", [24] North and South – one of the first industrial novels describing the conflict between employers and workers – was recognized as depicting complex social conflicts and offering more satisfactory solutions through Margaret Hale: spokesperson for the author and Gaskell's most mature creation. [25] I honestly didn't think I would enjoy this book, and was almost regretting putting it on my Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon TBR. And whaddya know, I finished it!