Mrs Elizabeth Gaskell was born in 1810, so we decided to read some of her novels to celebrate her bi-centenary. Not everyone was enthusiastic about trying Mrs Gaskell, but most of us were converted, and awarded her novels 4 -5 stars.
Mrs Gaskell had a great deal of tragedy in her life, but remained gregarious and sociable . Her mother died when she was a baby, and although she had a happy childhood with her aunt in Knutsford, Cheshire, she felt rejected by her father and was not accepted by her step mother.
She was only 18 when her only sibling, a brother, died at sea. She nursed her father following a stroke, but he died within 6 months of his son.
Although happily married to a minister, she lost 3 children, and her husband encouraged her to write as a way of coping with her grief. Her first novel, 'Mary Barton' drew upon her experience of social and charitable works as a minister's wife. It drew the admiration of Charles Dickens, who encouraged her to write Gothic tales, and published 'Cranford' in his Household Words Journal.
popular and socialble, she was also a close friend of Charlotte Bronte, and went on to write her biography.
Mrs Gaskell died while she was working on 'Wives and Daughters' in a house she had secretly bought as a surprise for her husband and family.
popular and socialble, she was also a close friend of Charlotte Bronte, and went on to write her biography.
Mrs Gaskell died while she was working on 'Wives and Daughters' in a house she had secretly bought as a surprise for her husband and family.
