Элизабет Гаскелл
Список книг автора Элизабет ГаскеллSylvia's Lovers
Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865) was a British novelist and short story writer during the Victorian era. During the years of novel-writing, she also published travel sketches and an assortment of essays. Her novels appeared in serial form in journals such as «Household Words» and «All the Year Round» edited by the renowned Charles Dickens and «Cornhill Magazine» edited by William Makepeace Thackeray. Many of Gaskell's novels offer a detailed portrait of the lives of many strata of society, including the less fortunate. Her powerfully moving novel, «Sylvia's Lovers», is set in the 1790s in an English seaside town where a young woman is caught between the attractions of two very different men. With England at war with France, press-gangs wreak havoc by seizing young men for service. One of their victims, Charley Kinraid, whose charm and cheerfulness has captured the heart of Sylvia Robson. But Sylvia's devoted cousin, Philip Hepburn, hopes to marry her himself, and in order to protect that outcome, deliberately withholds crucial information that ends with devastating consequences.
Ruth
Published in England in 1853, this social novel by Elizabeth Gaskell received controversial reviews among readers of the Victorian era because of its candid portrayal of the «fallen woman.» Ruth Hilton, an orphaned young seamstress, falls prey to the wiles of the young, wealthy and bored Henry Bellingham. The affair is short-lived when Ruth, carrying Bellingham's unborn child, is abandoned and left unemployed, homeless, and utterly without hope. She is saved by the minister, Thurstan Benson, who takes pity on Ruth and her illegitimate child, and helps to establish for her a respectable place in society. Upon the unforeseen return of Bellingham, the young mother must make a decision: to retain her personal pride and endure the chastisement of her community, or to succumb once again to Bellingham's advances. One of the first works to explore the social stigmas of the «fallen woman» in the context of 19th Century England, «Ruth» has remained a socially impactful work in literary history.
Cranford
The most well-known and well-liked of Gaskell's works, this softly humorous picture of an English country village was first serialized in a magazine edited by Charles Dickens in 1851. Based on the village of Gaskell's childhood, «Cranford» is narrated by a young woman visiting the town who describes the genteel poverty of two middle-aged spinster sisters, Miss Matty and Miss Deborah. Gaskell tells of their little adventures in a confidential and almost chatty tone, perfectly conveying their habits and standards of propriety, decency, and kindness in reduced circumstances. The colorful characters and subtle class distinctions of the village of Cranford are captured in this compassionate and hopeful portrayal of small-town English life.
The Life of Charlotte Bronte
Elizabeth Gaskell's «The Life of Charlotte Bronte» is the official biography of Charlotte Bronte. Having been invited by the Bronte family to undertake the endeavor of writing Charlotte’s biography, Elizabeth Gaskell drew upon an exhaustive collection of letters, interviews of those who knew the author, and recollections of her own experiences with the author, whom she was a personal friend of. Elizabeth Gaskell as a fellow Victorian female writer brings great insight into the life and accomplishments of the talented Charlotte Bronte.
Крэнфорд
Яркие зарисовки из жизни Мэри Смит и её подруг, обитающих в захолустном английском городке. В Крэнфорде нет ничего примечательного, кроме того, что в нем совершенно… не приживаются мужчины. Чопорные и целомудренные крэнфордские дамы живут по собственным неписаным законам и удивляют своими чудачествами. К тому же они непреклонны в убеждении, что быть мужчиной – это вульгарно. Впрочем, в конце концов в Крэнфорде все же появляется человек, которому удается изменить их взгляды. Книга очаровывает неподражаемым юмором, филигранно передает тончайшие нюансы взаимоотношений и красоту человеческой души.