Thanks to the hit TV drama, a pioneering author of social upheaval is finally getting the recognition she deserves

Elizabeth Gaskell

Nothing much happens in Cranford, the BBC’s lush series that has become one of the most watched costume dramas in recent years. But like the outwardly placid life of its Victorian author, Elizabeth Gaskell, below the tale’s surface swirl dark undercurrents that hint at tragedy, scandal and what might have been.

It is odd to think that Gaskell’s desperate (more…)

I’ve never read Cranford, and, just between the two of us, neither have you. It’s on our list, though, and has been since we were 18 and first discovered we had a list. Everywhere else in the world, literate (more…)

The weekend’s TV

Nancy Banks-Smith – The Guardian

Ah, the BBC Sunday serial! Something special like your Sunday best. Cranford (BBC1) will see you through beautifully until Christmas. Elizabeth Gaskell’s perfect little classic, beautifully and minutely observed, has been beefed up with two more stories. May (more…)