Cranford - Background and Resources

[Silver]

Please post any material related to the book, discussion and Author which may be interesting and helpful to others.

Post spoiler warnings when needed.

[Deborah, Moderator]

Cranford was published serially in Household Words. It is the best known work of Gaskell and is based on the town of Knutsford in Cheshire where the author grew up. The book describes a predominantly female society, and enjoyed instant success for its humorous observations and sensitive portraits. More recently, it's been reread by feminist critics who focused on the community of women (from The Bloomsbury Guide to Women's Literature).

[Deborah, Moderator]

Do we have a reading schedule yet?

[Silver]

Because it is so short of a work I was thinking maybe of just posting all threads at once.

[Deborah, Moderator]

Silver wrote: "Because it is so short of a work I was thinking maybe of just posting all threads at once."

Whatever works for you Silver since you've been kind enough to lead us on this one.

[Denise]

Lily mentioned on another thread that the popular miniseries of Cranford is made up of several Gaskell stories. So, if anybody who has seen the series and is reading the novel for the first time has been wondering about certain plotlines missing from the book, that is the reason!

The original miniseries Cranford, starring Judi Dench and Eileen Atkins consisted of Cranford, and the novellas Mr. Harrison's Confessions (the doctor storyline), and My Lady Ludlow (the lady of the manor, her manager, and the poor boy). Some details were also taken from an essay by Gaskell, The Last Generation in England (for example, the dog being dressed in matching clothes).

The follow-up miniseries, Return to Cranford, continued the plots of Cranford and My Lady Ludlow, and added The Moorland Cottage (the poor girl/rich boy), as well as a short story that Gaskell wrote years later as a follow-up to Cranford, The Cage at Cranford.

My edition of Cranford includes The Last Generation in England and The Cage at Cranford, but those are all of the sources that I have read. My favorite storyline was My Lady Ludlow, which I hope to read sometime!