Friday, August 01, 2014

Cranford by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell

I found this to be a delightful story (or series of vignettes). Most of the residents of Cranford are women.  Visiting and calls had rigid rules and regulations:  from twelve to three are the calling hours, stays must not exceed a quarter of an hour, and no more than three days should elapse between receiving and returning a call.  No one ever spoke about money.  And manners were more important than anything. 

According to Goodreads:  "First published as a magazine serial from 1851 and then in novel form in 1853, Cranford is the best-known work by Elizabeth Gaskell (1810 65)."  I read this as my 19th Century Classic for the Back to the Classics Challenge 2014, and I rate it 4 out of 5.  This is my final book for the required categories.  I plan to read The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton for the category "A Classic That's Been Adapted into a Movie or TV Series" (unless I change my mind - which I've done several times with this challenge already).

3 comments:

Kathy A. Johnson said...

I'm glad you liked Cranford, Cheryl. I have her chunky Wives and Daughters on my shelf, but haven't been in the mood to start it yet.

Good for you finishing up the challenge. I've been distracted, but want to get back to it. I've been mostly reading from my own shelves to try to clear out some of the excess, and I don't have many classics stockpiled.

Brona said...

I have several Gaskell's on my TBR pile...I keep reading good reviews and really should try one I know!

Thanks for such a concise review :-)

Di said...

Cheryl, I am loving looking through your photos on Flickr, adore your journal in sketches & watercolors. I have used your Inktense pic on my blog (with a credit to you), here is the link: http://bydi.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/unknown-in-august.html
Please let me know if you would prefer me to remove it.
Best
Di (dicremeratgmaildotcom)