Product Description

Can love survive rumour and misunderstanding? The heroine of Elizabeth Gaskell's last novel passes from childhood to maturity in a process that, though often painful for her, is sharply and humorously observed. Set in a provincial town in the early nineteenth century, Wives and Daughters is a subtle representation of historical change explored in human terms.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1119137 in Books
• Published on: 2003-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 652 pages

Ingram
Set in English society before the 1832 Reform Bill, this narrative traces the development of two girls into womanhood within the gossiping and watchful society of Hollingford.

About the Author
Elizabeth Gaskell's (1810-65) first novel, Mary Barton, was published in 1848 and won the attention of Charles Dickens and most of her later work was published in his journals. She was also a lifelong friend of Charlotte Bronte, whose biography she wrote.

Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell was born in London in 1810, but she spent her formative years in Cheshire, Stratford-upon-Avon and the north of England. In 1832 she married the Reverend William Gaskell, who became well known as the minister of the Unitarian Chapel in Manchester's Cross Street. As well as leading a busy domestic life as minister's wife and mother of four daughters, she worked among the poor, traveled frequently and wrote. Mary Barton (1848) was her first success.

Two years later she began writing for Dickens's magazine, Household Words, to which she contributed fiction for the next thirteen years, notably a further industrial novel, North and South (1855). In 1850 she met and secured the friendship of Charlotte Brontë. After Charlotte's death in March 1855, Patrick Brontë chose his daughter's friend and fellow-novelist to write The Life of Charlotte Brontë (1857), a probing and sympathetic account, that has attained classic stature.

Elizabeth Gaskell's position as a clergyman's wife and as a successful writer introduced her to a wide circle of friends, both from the professional world of Manchester and from the larger literary world. Her output was substantial and completely professional. Dickens discovered her resilient strength of character when trying to impose his views on her as editor of Household Words. She proved that she was not to be bullied, even by such a strong-willed man.

Her later works, Sylvia's Lovers (1863), Cousin Phillis (1864) and Wives and Daughters (1866) reveal that she was continuing to develop her writing in new literary directions. Elizabeth Gaskell died suddenly in November 1865.

Customer Reviews

Thoroughly engaging but not quite a masterpiece
I stayed up many late nights because this book is so engrossing. The storytelling, the pace, the characters, the intrigue all kept me up late, even when I had early morning meetings. Gaskell has a simple and eloquent writing style as well as a wonderful story to tell.

She does a sublime job of populating a village with memorable and distinct characters. The story centers around the Gibson family, first Molly and her father, gifted surgeon Dr. Gibson. Eventually Mr. Gibson realizes that Molly needs a mother to guide through her "young womanhood," and so he marries the superficial, exceedingly self-centered, but ultimately harmless Hyacinth Kirkpatrick. The new Mrs. Gibson brings with her her breathtaking beautiful but troubled daughter Cynthia (anagram). Along with this family, we follow the Hamleys with their rich past and future which is inextricably linked with the Gibson's -- Molly's especially.

While the author patiently delineates all her characters, I agree with an earlier post that said she could have benefitted from a great editor. Some of her observations ARE redundant. How many descriptions do we really need about Molly's goodness, Mrs. Gibson's selfishness, Cynthia's beauty, etc.?

Moreover, contrary to what Gaskell intends, I think the true heroine in the story is Cynthia. Cynthia is both selfish and kind, witty and naive, winning and annoying, pitiful and enviable -- in essence, she's a fully characterized, complex human being. Molly, who is so wondefully patient and good and sweet and caring and loving, is a shell of a girl compared to Cynthia. There are no shades to Molly. Why the intended heroine of the story lacks dimension is beyond me. Nearly every other character is allowed contrarian thoughts and feelings, whereas Molly occasionally borders on peevishness or impatience only to retreat back to docility.

Having said that much, I did enjoy the book immensely and was more than a little disappointed that Gaskell's untimely death forever suspends Molly and Roger in a state of unfulfilled love. Yes, my imagination can provide the ending easily but I would have loved to have read Gaskell's exquisite conclusion.

I would not put Elizabeth Gaskell in the same league with Jane Austen or George Eliot. Although, I think Gaskell's story has more immediate social relevance than Austen, her writing is simply not as good. For one, Austen's dialogue is incomparable. Austen's social commentary is so intertwined with her characters that you hardly perceive the narrator. She speaks through her creations. Gaskell's personal beliefs leaks through. George Eliot is in a class of her own; her writing is so subtle yet powerful you don't realize how great she is until the end when you put down Middlemarch and are in awe. Her characters, the village, the story is so richly textured that few novels even approach Middlemarch to be considered a masterpiece.

One of the best books I've read...
I am a huge Jane Austen fan, and this book is the closest and best book to her writing that I have found- and believe me I have read a lot from this genre. I have to admit, I saw the television mini-series before I read the book, but once I started the book I finished in a matter of two or three days, and it is a long book! Especially when you know there is no ending! I really cannot praise this book enough, it is a sweet, simple story about the girl whose worth is overlooked, and of course discovered in time.

Wives and Daughters
I loved this book. I didn't know until the end that it was unfinished by the author. But that made it that much more special.
If you like period pieces, you'll love this book!