num_pages: 257
description: Elizabeth Gaskell's portrait of kindness, compassion, and hopeCranford depicts the lives and preoccupations of the inhabitants of a small village - their petty snobberies, appetite for gossip, and loyal support for each other in times of need This is a community that runs on cooperation and gossip, at the very heart of which are the daughters of the former rector: Miss Deborah Jenkyns and her sister Miss Matty, But domestic peace is constantly threatened in the form of financial disaster, imagined burglaries, tragic accidents, and the reapparance of long-lost relatives. to Lady Glenmire, who shocks everyone by marrying the doctor. When men do appear, such as 'modern' Captain Brown or Matty's suitor from the past, they bring disruption and excitement to the everyday life of Cranford.In her introduction, Patricia Ingham places the novel in its literary and historical context, and discusses the theme of female friendship and Gaskell's narrative technique. This edition also contains an account of Gaskell's childhood in Knutsford, on which Cranford is based, appendices on fashion and domestic duties supplemented by illustrations, a chronology of Gaskell's life and works, suggestions for further reading, and explanatory notes.
language: English
title: Cranford
titlecomplete: Cranford
characters: Mary Smith, Miss Matty Jenkyns, Miss Deborah Jenkyns, Miss Pole, Betty Barker, Captain Brown, Thomas Holbrook, Peter Jenkyn, Miss Matty Jenkyns, Peter Jenkyns, Thomas Holbrook, Miss Pole, Miss Deborah Jenkyns, Captain Brown, Mary Smith, Betty Barker
genres: Classics, British Literature, Historical, Novels, Historical Fiction, Audiobook, Literature, 19th Century, Fiction, Victorian
ratings_count: 42833
places: England
publisher: Penguin Classics