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Editorial Review:
Wives and Daughters is set in the mid-19th century in the small village of Hollingford, in rural England. The Industrial Revolution hasn't yet thrown the country into turmoil, and the railway is just beginning to cut a swathe through the land. It sounds old-fashioned, (and there are themes in the novel which date it) but Gaskell's witty, warm tale of love and longing is surprisingly contemporary. Much of the fun in Wives And Daughters comes from Gaskell's sprightly characterisation, and willful insistence on the unconventional hero and heroine, both worthy, principled, and a little tedious. Molly Gibson, the doctor's daughter, is intelligent, spiritedly dutiful and given to much silent endurance. The object of her affections is Squire Hamley's younger son "Good Roger! Kind Roger! Dear Roger!", a sort of duller Darwin. The course of true love doesn't run smooth, thanks in the main, to the scintillating Cynthia, Molly's step sister. Cynthia is a glorious creation, willful, sinful and incredibly attractive, who, with her French education, strolls through the novel with "the free stately step of some wild animal of the forest"--moving almost, as it were, to the continual sound of music. Cynthia's mother, the epitome of snobbery and self-deceit, whose "words were ready-made clothes, and never fitted individual thoughts" adds to the piquant entertainment. The novel revolves around the trails and tribulations, the questionable reputations of the inhabitants of Hollingford. It was Gaskell's last and most mature work, powerful and engrossing in structure and unfinished. As her daughter reported, in January 1866, Elizabeth Gaskell died: "quite suddenly, without a moments warning, in the midst of a sentence" leaving the last chapter incomplete. Wives and Daughters is just a few pages short of an all embracing happy ending.--Eithne Farry
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
Insightful, sensitive and witty classic If you've seen the adaptation of this neglected classic, then you'll already know the storyline. Suffice to say that the book is even better, because it fleshes out more of the secondary characters, such as Lady Harriet, the Squire and Lady Hamley. What makes the book such a delight to read is Gaskell's knowledge of human nature. One feels that Gaskell is a little like Roger, putting each character under the microscope, but analysing each fault kindly. The only character who doesn't get much sympathy is Mr.... more info
A classic favourite I've now read W&D several times, and it has become one of my favourite books. There's something about it that reminds me a little of both 'Emma' and 'Mansfield Park'. Molly Gibson is a sympathetic heroine, generally quiet and modest, devoted to her father, but not afraid to stand up for herself when required. The book is set nearly 200 years ago, but the characters are so beautifully drawn and you feel you know people like Cynthia Kirkpatrick and Mr and Mrs Gibson in real life. Not wishing to give too... more info
Near perfection! This is mostly a character-driven story, but that's not to undermine the skill employed to carry the plot along. Like a finely crafted tapestry, if you imagine each event being a carefully placed stich, leading on to the next stich and the next, until you get the bigger picture.
Each event, no matter how seemingly insignificant, turns out to be vital to move the story along, and shape the fate of its characters. If Mr.Gibson's apprentice, young Mr.Coxe, hadn't have been infatuated with his daughter, would... more info
Wonderfully well written! The book on the whole in my opinion is well composed and put together. However the story does tend to go on a little, I think that it would have been better if it wasn't so long as it does tend to go over things that don't need to be written. Despite this, I think that the author pays careful attention to the main character (Molly), and this is important, because if the author suddenly doesn't care about the main character,then it ruins the book for the reader, and nothing can be worse than that! She lets... more info
