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Having devoted the past two weeks of my life to one single book, I also feel compelled to devote this Sunday Salon to my review of the same book!
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Wives and Daughters
Elizabeth Gaskell
652 pages
Elizabeth Gaskell's last novel is a classic story of English life in the mid-1800s. Heroine Molly Gibson is the daughter of a widowed doctor in the town of Hollingford. As a teenager she is sent on an extended visit with the Hamleys, one of two wealthy families in the area. Mrs. Hamley takes an instant liking to Molly, making her a companion of sorts. Molly also befriends the younger son Roger, and later meets his brother Osborne. Roger helps Molly work through feelings regarding her father's marriage to Clare, a local widow. Clare also has a teenage daughter, Cynthia, who has been schooled in France for many years. Cynthia and Molly become close friends, even though the two young women couldn't be more different. The story unfolds at a very slow and easy pace. Not much happens, and yet everything happens. People become sick, and some die. People visit London, and some travel further afield. Most people are inherently good, but there are one or two bad apples in Hollingford who, of course, get their comeuppance.
Gaskell is well-known for exposing and exploring the social issues of her day (an earlier novel, North and South, centered on working conditions and class differences). On the surface Wives and Daughters is less daring, and more like Jane Austen's work in its depiction of romance and social strata. However, Gaskell directly challenges the traditional role of women in 19th-century English society. All of the male characters treat women as fragile children, incapable of managing their own affairs. In contrast, Molly is a strong female protagonist. She is respectful and kind, and yet uses a subtle strong will to steer events in the right direction. She comes to the aid of several characters, and proves herself indispensable during a crisis towards the end of the novel.
The novel ends abruptly, because Gaskell died before it could be finished. This could have been a very bad thing indeed, but it appeared the story was close to wrapping up (and after 650 pages, shouldn't it?!). While some of the details are unknown, eventual outcomes are certain. While reading Wives and Daughters requires a significant time commitment, Gaskell writes beautifully and often with great wit, and this story held my interest to the very end. (
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Wives and DaughtersElizabeth Gaskell
652 pages
Elizabeth Gaskell's last novel is a classic story of English life in the mid-1800s. Heroine Molly Gibson is the daughter of a widowed doctor in the town of Hollingford. As a teenager she is sent on an extended visit with the Hamleys, one of two wealthy families in the area. Mrs. Hamley takes an instant liking to Molly, making her a companion of sorts. Molly also befriends the younger son Roger, and later meets his brother Osborne. Roger helps Molly work through feelings regarding her father's marriage to Clare, a local widow. Clare also has a teenage daughter, Cynthia, who has been schooled in France for many years. Cynthia and Molly become close friends, even though the two young women couldn't be more different. The story unfolds at a very slow and easy pace. Not much happens, and yet everything happens. People become sick, and some die. People visit London, and some travel further afield. Most people are inherently good, but there are one or two bad apples in Hollingford who, of course, get their comeuppance.
Gaskell is well-known for exposing and exploring the social issues of her day (an earlier novel, North and South, centered on working conditions and class differences). On the surface Wives and Daughters is less daring, and more like Jane Austen's work in its depiction of romance and social strata. However, Gaskell directly challenges the traditional role of women in 19th-century English society. All of the male characters treat women as fragile children, incapable of managing their own affairs. In contrast, Molly is a strong female protagonist. She is respectful and kind, and yet uses a subtle strong will to steer events in the right direction. She comes to the aid of several characters, and proves herself indispensable during a crisis towards the end of the novel.
The novel ends abruptly, because Gaskell died before it could be finished. This could have been a very bad thing indeed, but it appeared the story was close to wrapping up (and after 650 pages, shouldn't it?!). While some of the details are unknown, eventual outcomes are certain. While reading Wives and Daughters requires a significant time commitment, Gaskell writes beautifully and often with great wit, and this story held my interest to the very end. (
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