Cranford (Dover Thrift Editions: Classic Novels)

Cranford (Dover Thrift Editions: Classic Novels)

<div><div><P>A sensitive and moving portrait of a Victorian town, captured at a transitional period in English society, <I>Cranford</I> first appeared serially in Charles Dickens's magazine <I>Household Words</I> from 1851 to 1853, and in book form in 1853. Author Elizabeth Gaskell situated her stories in a hamlet very like the one in which she grew up, and her affectionate but unsentimental portraits of the residents of <I>Cranford</I> offer a realistic view of life and manners in an English country village during the 1830s.<BR><I>Cranford</I> recounts the events and activities in the loves of a group of spinsters and widows who struggle in genteel poverty to maintain their standards of propriety, decency, and kindness. Tales of the heroism and self-sacrifice of Captain Brown, the surprisingly betrothal of Lady Glenmire, and the future for pretty but poor Miss Jessie support a web of subtle but serious themes that include the movement from aristocratic to middle-class values, the separate spheres and diverse experiences of men and women, and the curious coexistence of customs old and new in a changing society.<BR>Often referred to as Mrs. Gaskell, the author preferred <I>Cranford</I> to all her other works, which include a popular biography of her friend Charlotte Brontë. Praised by Charles Dickens as "delightful, and touched with the most tender and delicate manner," the novel remains a favorite with students and aficionados of nineteenth-century literature.<BR><BR></div></div></P>