Literature Network » Elizabeth Gaskell

Abandoned by her father.Three children dead in infancy. And an intriguing affair with an American toyboy ... the amazing secret life of Cranford creator Elizabeth Gaskell; Triumph over tragedy: Elizabeth Gaskell. Main picture, Judi Dench in the new BBC se

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From: The Daily Mail (London, England)
Date: 20071127
Author:

Byline: Tony Rennell

ON THE surface, she was the ideal Victorian wife and mother, a19th-century domestic goddess. The clue was in the name she used on her booksnot Elizabeth Gaskell but Mrs Gaskell. It distinguished her from other womenwriters of the time, such as Jane Austen and George Eliot, who were spinstersand childless.

And it was true. Married to a minister, bringing up four children, keepinghearth and home, engaging herself in charity, the author of Cranford embodiedold-fashioned femininity.

From the comfort of that married bliss, she ran a canny eye over the ...

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