Early Reviewers Elizabeth Gaskell

Ruth Hilton is an orphaned young seamstress who catches the eye of a gentleman, Henry Bellingham, who is captivated by her simplicity and beauty. When she loses her job and home, he offers her comfort and shelter, only to cruelly desert her soon after. Nearly dead with grief and shame, Ruth is offered the chance of a new life among people who give her love and respect, even though they are at first unaware of her secret - an illegitimate child. When Henry enters her life again, however, Ruth must make the impossible choice between social acceptance and personal pride. In writing Ruth, Elizabeth Gaskell daringly confronted prevailing views about sin and illegitimacy with her compassionate and honest portrait of a 'fallen woman'.

Ruth Hilton, an orphan and dressmaker's assistant, is seduced and heartlessly deserted by the wealthy Henry Bellingham. Mrs. Gaskell tells the story of Ruth's love for her child; her new life in the home of Thurston Benson, a dissenting minister; the misery caused by the tyrannical Mr. Bradshaw, in whose house she finds emplyment as a governess; and the cruel twist of fate that confronts her again with her worthless lover, with appalling consequences.