This is a short novel by a Victorian contemporary of Dickens and Bronte who was well-known for her longer novels. This short novel is a simple slice-of-life story of the single women in a small English town from the early to mid-Victorian era of the 1800’s. At a time when a woman’s principal goal was marriage (for survival purposes, if nothing else), the fact was that more women than men meant simply that a lot of single women had to live day-to-day. This is a marvelous telling of that story—how the women of Cranford worked together and apart to keep appearances and spirits up. I loved this book although I had tried to read it twice before without success. It is slow-paced (like its characters), but loving and genuinely compassionate, in its treatment of all the inhabitants of Cranford. It is also one of the 1001 Must Read books—and this is one I have no problem with being on the list. ( )

Beautifully observed and gently funny, Cranford is less a novel than it is a series of vignettes, drawn from the lives of a small group of genteelly impoverished older women in a small town in mid-nineteenth century England. Gaskell is quite gentle with her characters, I think perhaps because she was aware of how limited a life she was creating for them—with all the social restrictions placed on unmarried women, with just enough social status to be unable to work to support themselves, but with not enough income to keep themselves independent—and so while they have to face trials, Miss Matty and Co. have the strength and the resilience to face them. ( )

This is a lovely collection of stories about the village of Cranford and its inhabitants, and details the social conventions of a group of women (with the occasional man thrown in for good measure) of a certain age, living in the mid 19th century. The stories demonstrate the resourcefulness of genteel poverty, and showcases the love and loyalty the characters feel for one another. ( )

Very pleasant glimpse into an unusual world--single aging women of the 19th century. Poor, but hiding their poverty. Gentle and genteel. None of the explosiveness of Dickens, but well worth reading. ( )

http://unabridgedopinions.com/2009/03... ( )