Elizabeth Gaskell: A Portrait in Letters - Softcover

Chapple, John; Sharps, John Geoffrey

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0719009855 ISBN 13: 9780719009853

Publisher: Manchester University Press, 1986

Synopsis

Elizabeth Gaskell is best known as a novelist and biographer, but she was also a lively and sensitive letter writer, with a vivacious interest in all that was going on around her. This selection from her letters, with a linking commentary, provides a biography of Gaskell largely in her own words. It is in chronological order, with special chapters devoted to her family life, her travels, her charities and her life as an author who was also a wife and mother, in a period when Victorian society and culture were undergoing major changes - especially apparent in the Manchester where she lived. She emerges as a woman of intelligence, integrity and grace, with an enchanting sense of humour, an insatiable curiosity about life, a deep regard for truth and a boundless sympathy for others. This selection by John Chapple, and assisted by John Geoffrey Sharps, was originally published in 1980. With the support of the Gaskell Society it has been reprinted without alteration, except for some new illustrations.

About this title

Review

A fascinating document that not only brings her to life but is a rich source of social history. As a general introduction to Elizabeth Gaskell it could hardly be bettered. --Maureen Duffy, Daily Telegraph (from the first edition)

About the Author

J. A. V. Chapple is Emeritus Professor of English Literature at the University of Hull

Edition details

• Publisher: Manchester University Press
• Publication date: 1986
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0719009855
• ISBN 13: 9780719009853
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192