Cranford / Cousin Phillis (Penguin Classics) [Mass Market Paperback]

Elizabeth Gaskell (Author), Peter Keating (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1995

"Cranford" depicts the lives and preoccupations of the inhabitants of a small village - their petty snobberies and appetite for gossip, and their loyal support for each other in times of need. The village is dominated by women, from the kindly spinster Miss Matty, living in genteel poverty with her redoubtable sister, to Lady Glenmire, who shocks everyone by marrying the doctor. When men do appear, such as 'modern' Captain Brown or Matty's suitor from the past, they bring disruption and excitement to the everyday life of Cranford. This volume includes the novella "Cousin Phillis", which depicts a fleeting love affair in a rural community at a time when old values are being supplanted by the new. Both works are exquisitely observed tragicomedies of human nature, told with great delicacy and affection.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Elizabeth Gaskell was born in 1810. in 1832 she married the Reverend William Gaskell and spent her time working among the poor and writing. Her first novel, Mary Barton received critical acclaim and she began to contribute to Household Works. She continued to write until her death in 1865.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics; 10th edition (January 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140431047
• ISBN-13: 978-0140431049
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.8 x 7.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #713,670 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Meet the Cranford Ladies, and Enjoy the Tragicomedy of Human Nature, December 30, 2005

By 

Tsuyoshi (Kyoto, Japan) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Cranford / Cousin Phillis (Penguin Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)

(This is a book review about `Cranford' and `Cousin Phillis' of the Penguin Classics edition, edited by Peter Keating.)

[CRANFORD] Elizabeth Gaskell's `Cranford' is very different from her more serious `Mary Barton' and `North and South,' both written with socially conscious messages. In fact, its basic tone is comedy (or tragicomedy) set against the background of the changing local community of Cranford, or `Our Society' which is, as the narrator says, "in possession of the Amazons."

The main characters are all elderly ladies. You meet kind-hearted and timid Miss Matty with her domineering sister Deborah, the most memorable characters in this town. Narrated by one Mary Smith, we are introduced to the small world of Cranford, where smallest things can be pleasure or trouble such as `conjuror' Signor Brunoni amazing the ladies in the town's Assembly Room, or some rumor about `robbery' and even `ghosts' that scare them in `Darkness-Lane.' There is Lady Glenmire, who comes to Cranford, and shocks the community by marrying a doctor (and becoming `Mrs. Hoggins'). With these episodes, Elizabeth Gaskell deftly describes the sisterhood among the gossipy ladies with deep sense of sympathy, and the events are described with her sure-handed touch, which provides funny moments and occasional pathos.

Some part may not be interesting today. Captain Brown and Miss Jenkyns have an argument about the merit of novel reading, and while Captain praises Dickens' `Pickwick Papers,' Miss Jenkyns insists on the superiority of Samuel Johnson This is not only an in-joke (`Cranford' first appeared as eight-part serial in Dickens' Household Words first in 1851), it also reflects that these ladies in Cranford stick to their strict social codes that are clearly getting too old outside the community. The scene itself is humorous, and behind the humor you can find the author's keen eye for details.

But the book can be enjoyed without such historical knowledge, and there are many touching scenes concerning Miss Matty's life. As `Cranford' is written without concrete planning, the entire work looks very episodic. Actually it is episodic (and that's why one major character suddenly disappear at Chapter 2), and it should be read as such, like a series of sketches or short stories.

[COUSIN PHILLIS] `Cousin Phillis' is first published as four-part serial in 1863, and is about a fleeting love affair in a rural community, where the titular daughter of a `minister' (and self-help type of farmer) lives quietly. This is what we call a `novella' and its tone is sadder than `Cranford' but still is written with well-observed descriptions of the characters and the community that we know would undergo drastic change sooner or later.

THE PENGUIN edition by PETER KEATING contains Appendix A: `The Last Generation in England' and Appendix B: `The Cage at Cranford' both by Gaskell. The first one would throw light on the background of Cranford, and the second one (a sequel written about 10 years after the original) is an enjoyable (if not outstanding) short story.

`Cranford' is a delightful book that reminded me of E.F. Benson's equally delightful Mapp and Lucia books. Teachers may not use these books as text in the English literature courses in university, but the fact remains that these books are as priceless as any other Victorian novels.

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfection, November 13, 2010

By 

Recusant - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cranford / Cousin Phillis (Penguin Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)

Cranford is perhaps the most perfect of all English idylls, at least the equal of Hardy's "Under The Greenwood Tree'. Creating its own fictional world, it works against the grain of Victorian social realism to depict a society of kindliness about to be sacrificed to Mammon, and its depiction of the threatened world of ageing late Georgian women in the more brutalised age of Victoria is unparalleled. It is the perfect comic novel, and not lacking in deep human pathos.

'Cousin Phillis' is a darker masterpiece, and not the least of its achievements lies in the way we it is narrated by the well-meaning but uncomprehending Paul, through whose descriptions we can perceive the painful reality of Phillis's life as the prisoner of her parents' needs and foibles, a child-woman for her father who prevents her growing-up, the daughter of a kind but completely unavailable mother, and finally overwhelmed by her un-met emotional needs. Without any direct moralising she show the terrible price paid by women within the world of Protestant non-conformity.

2 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The last sentence should be " to be continued", February 4, 2001

By 

sidharth singh (delhi) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cranford / Cousin Phillis (Penguin Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)

One of the books in which every thing seems to be so perfect and good ,but in the end everything is ruined.It is one of the book, which I never wanted to end.It justs need a little sentence in the end and that is "to be continued" .