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Elizabeth Gaskell (1810–1865)

Author of North and South

198+ Works 26,060 Members 724 Reviews 175 Favorited
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About the Author

Elizabeth Gaskell was born on September 29, 1810 to a Unitarian clergyman, who was also a civil servant and journalist. Her mother died when she was young, and she was brought up by her aunt in Knutsford, a small village that was the prototype for Cranford, Hollingford and the setting for numerous show more other short stories. In 1832, she married William Gaskell, a Unitarian clergyman in Manchester. She participated in his ministry and collaborated with him to write the poem Sketches among the Poor in 1837. Our Society at Cranford was the first two chapters of Cranford and it appeared in Dickens' Household Words in 1851. Dickens liked it so much that he pressed Gaskell for more episodes, and she produced eight more of them between 1852 and 1853. She also wrote My Lady Ludlow and Lois the Witch, a novella that concerns the Salem witch trials. Wives and Daughters ran in Cornhill from August 1864 to January 1866. The final installment was never written but the ending was known and the novel exists now virtually complete. The story centers on a series of relationships between family groups in Hollingford. Most critics agree that her greatest achievement is the short novel Cousin Phillis. Gaskell was also followed by controversy. In 1853, she offended many readers with Ruth, which explored seduction and illegitimacy that led the "fallen woman" into ostracism and inevitable prostitution. The novel presents the social conduct in a small community when tolerance and morality clash. Critics praised the novel's moral lessons but Gaskell's own congregation burned the book and it was banned in many libraries. In 1857, The Life of Charlotte Brontë was published. The biography was initially praised but angry protests came from some of the people it dealt with. Gaskell was against any biographical notice of her being written during her lifetime. After her death on November 12, 1865, her family refused to make family letters or biographical data available. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Series

Works by Elizabeth Gaskell

North and South (1855) 7,262 copies
Cranford (1851) 4,461 copies
Wives and Daughters (1865) 4,012 copies
Mary Barton (1848) 2,607 copies
The Life of Charlotte Brontë (1857) 1,458 copies
Ruth (1853) 1,037 copies
Gothic Tales (2000) 596 copies
Sylvia's Lovers (1863) 584 copies
Cranford / Cousin Phillis (1976) 378 copies
The Cranford Chronicles (2007) 334 copies
Cousin Phillis (1863) 254 copies
Lois the Witch (1859) 186 copies
Cranford and Other Stories (1851) 176 copies
The Moorland Cottage (1850) 162 copies
My Lady Ludlow (1859) 152 copies
The Poor Clare (1856) 105 copies
Mr. Harrison's Confessions (1851) 90 copies
100 Eternal Masterpieces of Literature - volume 2 (2020) — Contributor — 64 copies
A Dark Night's Work (1863) — Author — 58 copies
Half a Lifetime Ago (1855) 41 copies
The Grey Woman (1861) 39 copies
The Half-Brothers (1859) 33 copies
Four Short Stories (1611) 30 copies
Lizzie Leigh (1850) 28 copies
Round the Sofa (1864) 27 copies
The Doom of the Griffiths (1858) 18 copies
An Accursed Race (1855) 17 copies
Victorian Short Stories: Stories of Successful Marriages (2007) — Contributor — 16 copies
Sylvia's Lovers, Volume 3 (2010) 12 copies
Sylvia's Lovers Volume 2 (2010) 11 copies
The Manchester Marriage (2006) 10 copies
Uncle Peter (2008) 7 copies
Right at Last (2004) 7 copies
Ruth - And Other Tales (2009) 6 copies
Crowley Castle (2002) 5 copies
The Squire's Story (1853) 4 copies
The Sexton's Hero (2015) 4 copies
The Well of Pen-Morfa (1850) 3 copies
Morton Hall (2008) 3 copies
French Life (2008) 3 copies
The Cage at Cranford (2015) 3 copies
My French Master (2008) 2 copies
Round the Sofa V2 (2007) 2 copies
The Crooked Branch (1859) 2 copies
The Classic Gothic Horror Collection (2021) — Contributor — 2 copies
Round the Sofa V1 (2007) 1 copy
(all) 1 copy
La Clarissa 1 copy
An Italian Institution (2015) 1 copy
Mary Barton Annotated (2022) 1 copy
Ghost Stories (2012) 1 copy
Maldição (2022) 1 copy

Associated Works

The Oxford Book of Victorian Ghost Stories (1976) — Contributor — 504 copies
The Haunted House (1859) — Contributor — 366 copies
Ghosts: A Treasury of Chilling Tales Old & New (1981) — Contributor — 327 copies
The Fireside Book of Christmas Stories (1944) — Contributor — 275 copies
Gothic Short Stories (2002) — Contributor — 239 copies
A House to Let (1858) — Contributor — 193 copies
The Portable Victorian Reader (1972) — Contributor — 176 copies
Great Stories of the Sea & Ships (1940) — Contributor — 168 copies
Erotica: Women's Writing from Sappho to Margaret Atwood (1990) — Contributor — 168 copies
Ghostly Tales: Spine-Chilling Stories of the Victorian Age (2017) — Contributor — 167 copies
North and South [2004 TV mini series] (2004) — Original book — 146 copies
The Virago Book of Ghost Stories (2006) — Contributor — 138 copies
The Virago Book of Victorian Ghost Stories (1988) — Contributor — 132 copies
The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories (1984) — Contributor — 122 copies
Chilling Horror Short Stories (2016) — Contributor — 120 copies
The Penguin Book of Women's Humour (1996) — Contributor — 115 copies
The Lifted Veil: Women's 19th Century Stories (2005) — Contributor — 112 copies
The Treasury of English Short Stories (1985) — Contributor — 81 copies
Wives and Daughters [1999 TV mini series] (2001) — Original story — 80 copies
Delphi Complete Works of Charles Dickens (Illustrated) (2011) — Contributor, some editions — 77 copies
Selected Stories from the 19th Century (2000) — Contributor — 71 copies
Somebody's Luggage (1862) 69 copies
The Mammoth Book of Ghost Stories by Women (2012) — Contributor — 69 copies
The Bedside Book of Famous British Stories (1940) — Contributor — 66 copies
Supernatural Horror Short Stories (2017) — Contributor — 65 copies
The Twelve Frights of Christmas (1998) — Contributor — 63 copies
Haunted House Short Stories (Gothic Fantasy) (2019) — Contributor — 63 copies
The Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories (1964) — Contributor — 60 copies
Delphi Complete Works of the Brontës (2011) — Contributor, some editions — 52 copies
Revenge: Short Stories by Women Writers (1986) — Contributor — 49 copies
Victorian Love Stories: An Oxford Anthology (1996) — Contributor — 48 copies
Return to Cranford [2009 TV series] (1970) — Original book — 46 copies
The Virago Book of Such Devoted Sisters (1993) — Contributor — 44 copies
65 Great Murder Mysteries (1983) — Contributor — 41 copies
The Moons at Your Door (2016) — Contributor — 41 copies
Cranford [Oxford Bookworms] (1622) 41 copies
Women of the Weird: Eerie Stories by the Gentle Sex (1976) — Contributor — 41 copies
The Oxford Book of Historical Stories (1994) — Contributor — 40 copies
Selected English Short Stories (First Series) (1914) — Contributor — 35 copies
The Oxford Book of English Love Stories (1996) — Contributor — 34 copies
Small Shadows Creep (1974) — Contributor — 33 copies
Stories To Get You Through The Night (2010) — Contributor — 32 copies
The Mystery Book (1934) — Contributor — 28 copies
Classic Ghost Stories: Spooky Tales to Read at Christmas (2017) — Contributor — 26 copies
Minor Hauntings: Chilling Tales of Spectral Youth (2021) — Contributor — 26 copies
Great Ghost Stories: 34 Classic Tales of the Supernatural (2002) — Contributor — 25 copies
Cuentos de amor victorianos (2004) — Contributor — 21 copies
Women on Nature (2021) — Contributor — 20 copies
Great English Short Stories (1930) — Contributor — 20 copies
The Broadview Anthology of Victorian Short Stories (2004) — Contributor — 19 copies
A Century of Thrillers from Poe to Arlen (First Series) (1934) — Contributor — 18 copies
Family Treasury of Great Biographies Volume 08 (1970) — Contributor — 17 copies
Horror by Lamplight (1993) — Contributor — 17 copies
The Cold Embrace: Weird Stories by Women (2016) — Contributor — 14 copies
Dark Holidays: A Collection of Ghost Stories (2006) — Contributor — 13 copies
Shapes of the Supernatural (1969) — Contributor — 11 copies
Selected English short stories XIX & XX centuries (1914) — Contributor — 11 copies
Best of Women's Short Stories, Volume 2 (2006) — Contributor — 9 copies
An Adult's Garden of Bloomers (1966) — Contributor — 7 copies
More ghosts and marvels (1934) — Contributor — 7 copies
The Trials of Love (1990) — Contributor — 6 copies
Evergreen Stories (1998) — Contributor — 5 copies
Best of Women's Short Stories, Volume I (2005) — Contributor — 4 copies
Spookbeeld vijf Victoriaanse vertellingen (1980) — Contributor — 4 copies
The Anthology of Love and Romance (1994) — Contributor — 4 copies
Famous stories of five centuries (1934) — Contributor — 4 copies
Three Great Novels: Emma/Arme Lucy/Agnes Grey (1998) — Contributor — 4 copies
Wigilia Pełna Duchów (2019) — Contributor — 3 copies
North and South [1975 TV miniseries] (2013) — Original book — 3 copies
December Tales (2021) — Contributor — 3 copies
The Screaming Skull and the Old Nurse's Story (1997) — some editions — 2 copies
Classic British Short Stories (2009) — Contributor — 2 copies
Short Stories of the Past (1950) — Contributor — 2 copies

Tagged

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Common Knowledge

Members

Discussions

Victorian Q2 Read-Along: North and South in Club Read 2022 (September 2022)
Group Read, December 2021: North and South in 1001 Books to read before you die (December 2021)
Group Read, January 2017: Cranford in 1001 Books to read before you die (February 2017)
1816: Charlotte Brontë - Resources and General Discussion in Literary Centennials (January 2016)
July Group Read: Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell in 2014 Category Challenge (August 2014)
North and South, Chapters 27-52 (Spoiler Thread) in 75 Books Challenge for 2011 (January 2012)
North and South, Chapters 1-26 (Spoiler Thread) in 75 Books Challenge for 2011 (December 2011)
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell (Non-Spoiler Thread) in 75 Books Challenge for 2011 (December 2011)

Reviews

This was good but I enjoyed [b:North and South|156538|North and South|Elizabeth Gaskell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1349633381l/156538._SY75_.jpg|1016482] and [b:Wives and Daughters|383206|Wives and Daughters|Elizabeth Gaskell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348267609l/383206._SY75_.jpg|816009] much more.
 
Flagged
mmcrawford | 128 other reviews | Dec 5, 2023 |
So much real emotion in this one. I loved it and was happy to let the (long) story slowly unfold. There is a plot but if you need things to move along, this is probably not the book for you. #Victober2019
 
Flagged
mmcrawford | 82 other reviews | Dec 5, 2023 |
A party or a dream? Various fairy tale characters are guests at said party.
½
 
Flagged
Tess_W | 3 other reviews | Nov 5, 2023 |

Lists

My TBR (2)
1850s (4)
AP Lit (1)

Awards

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Associated Authors

William Gaskell Contributor
Charles Dickens Contributor
Wilkie Collins Contributor
Mary Shelley Contributor
Edgar Allan Poe Contributor
O. Henry Contributor
Arthur Conan Doyle Contributor
John Geoffrey Sharps Editor, Contributor
Nikolai Gogol Contributor
Upton Sinclair Contributor
Herman Melville Contributor
George Gissing Contributor
Hollis Godfrey Contributor
Stendhal Contributor
Thomas Mann Contributor
D. H. Lawrence Contributor
Jonathan Swift Contributor
Pieter Harting Contributor
Leo Tolstoy Contributor
Bram Stoker Contributor
H. P. Lovecraft Contributor
Victor Hugo Contributor
Jack London Contributor
James Joyce Contributor
Rudyard Kipling Contributor
Maxim Gorky Contributor
Arthur Morrison Contributor
Alexandre Dumas Contributor
Margaret Cavendish Contributor
Horatio Alger, Jr. Contributor
Grant Allen Contributor
Lucius Apuleius Contributor
Walter Scott Contributor
Marcus Aurelius Contributor
Jane Austen Contributor
George Sand Contributor
L. Frank Baum Contributor
Rebecca West Contributor
Mark Twain Contributor
Dale Carnegie Contributor
H. G. Wells Contributor
G.K. Chesterton Contributor
Daniel Defoe Contributor
John Cleland Contributor
Marcel Proust Contributor
Susan Coolidge Contributor
Jules Verne Contributor
Benjamin Disraeli Contributor
Vatsyayana Contributor
J.A.V. Chapple Editor, Introduction
George Moore Contributor
Thomas Hardy Contributor
Walter Besant Contributor
Henry James Contributor
Washington Irving Contributor
William Mudford Contributor
Sheridan Le Fanu Contributor
Henry James Contributor
Dick Donovan Contributor
Ralph Adams Cram Contributor
Ambrose Bierce Contributor
E. F. Benson Contributor
Graham Handley Editor, Contributor
Clement Shorter Introduction
Amy Mae King Contributor
Josephine M. Guy Contributor
Raymond Williams Contributor
Charles Kingsley Contributor
John Lucas Contributor
Hilary M. Schor Contributor
Patsy Stoneman Contributor
W. R. Greg Contributor
Thomas Carlyle Contributor
Kathleen Tillotson Contributor
Samuel Bamford Contributor
John Forster Contributor
Leon M. Faucher Contributor
Friedrich Engels Contributor
Maria Edgeworth Contributor
Richard D. Altick Contributor
Deirdre d'Albertis Contributor
Liam Corley Contributor
Dion Boucicault Contributor
Susan Zlotnick Contributor
Melisa Klimaszewski Editor, Introduction
Jenny Uglow Introduction, Foreword
Prunella Scales Narrator, Reader
Nadia May Narrator
Åsa Arping Afterword, Preface
Laura Kranzler Chronology, Editor
A. W. Ward Introduction
Margaret Lane Introduction
Alexy Pendle Illustrator
Ángela Pérez Translator
Clare Wille Narrator
Akkie de Jong Translator
Sally Shuttleworth Introduction
Ginda Leyrer Translator
Frances Button Cover designer
Rose Cooper Cover designer
Martin Dodsworth Introduction
Winifred Gerin Editor, Introduction
George Du Maurier Illustrator
Hugh Thomson Illustrator
Dinah Birch Introduction
Tim Dolin Editor
Damián Alou Translator
Béatrice Vierne Translator
Andrea Ott Translator
George Du Maurier Illustrator
Pam Morris Editor
Jack Strimban Cover designer
Myron Brightfield Introduction
Stephen Gill Introduction
Robert Strimban Cover designer
E.C. Barnes Cover artist
Z.E. Alexandrova Commentary
Thomas Seccombe Introduction
D.S. Bysty Designer
I.M. Katarsky Foreword
Fedora Day Translator
Keith Carabine Series editor
Rona Munro Adapter
Sally Minogue Introduction
John Dryden Translator
Pixabay Photographer
Anne Taranto Introduction
Clement K. Shorter Introduction
May Sinclair Introduction
Lew Crossford Translator
Victor Prout Illustrator
Seth Illustrator
D.J. Taylor Foreword
Tithi Luadthong Cover artist
J. A. Nicklin Introduction

Statistics

Works
198
Also by
106
Members
26,060
Popularity
#799
Rating
3.9
Reviews
724
ISBNs
1,572
Languages
21
Favorited
175

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