Customer Reviews

The Moorland Cottage (Hesperus Classics)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Moorland Cottage is a predictable 19th century British romance (actually written in the 19th century) that follows the literary formula of its day. With that said, sometimes don't you just want to let yourself fall into a romantic novel and pretend it's your life? I don't know anything about the author, Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, so I don't know how successful she was, but she succeeded with this little novel. I fell in love, had my hopes dashed, and was rescued from a fate worse than death all in the space of a few hours. Gaskell is no Jane Austin, but Ms. Austen didn't write enough books to satisfy my thirst for a good romantic fairy tale written during a time when those books were the bestselling fiction of their day. If you're in the right frame of mind, pick it up and enjoy.

If you enjoyed Cranford you will enjoy this sweet little novella. It is the story of Maggie Browne, a truly kind, sweet, and totally unselfish girl who has a brother, who is the complete opposite of her in personality.

Although Maggie knows her brother for what he is,she still loves him, and I am sure you can imagine the conflict,sacrifice, and pain, Maggie will face because of her brother's selfishness.

Maggie and her brother's relationship reminded me much of Molly and Cynthia's in "Wives and Daughters," another of Mrs. Gaskell's stories.
Mrs. Gaskell never finshed "Wives and Daughters", and so we do not know for sure that Molly is rewarded with the love of the man she loves.

However in in this novella, Maggie is eventually rewarded with the devotion of the man she loves, in spite of her brother.

I understand this story will be woven into the new Cranford adaptation sequel. It has the caliber of Cranford, Mr. Harrison's Confession, and My Lady Ludlow, a good choice to be sure!

This story had potential. The writing made me like a few characters, loath a couple others and even cry a tear or two.... All was rolling along, I'm enjoying the storyline very much - until the last few chapters. The author took an odd turn in the storyline and then abruptly ended it. The turn of events is so strange I'm tempted to look as see if the upload of the public domain title has been tampered with. Is it a strange joke?

I also have no idea why the story is called The Moorland Cottage.

Go ahead and skip this one. Instead I recommend The Enchanted April or Understood Betsy.

this upload also had a handful of strange typos. I won't score it low for that reason but it could be easily fixed.

Moorland Cottage by Elizabeth Gaskell is a short novella that was first published around 1850 after her first novel Mary Barton but before one of her more famous novels Cranford. It centers on Maggie Browne, her brother Edward, and their mother who live at the novella's title Moorland Cottage. Mr. Browne died when the children were very young and Mrs. Browne has spent most of the rest of her time neglecting Maggie and catering to her Edward, allowing him all of life's pleasures and ambitions. Maggie obediently stands by and watches her mother spoil Edward and never complains when she is ordered around or criticized for every little thing she does wrong. Maggie's fortune changes when a friend of her father's Mr. Buxton visits the family and invites them to come and spend the day at his home. Maggie becomes a favorite to his sick wife and only son Frank and spends a day a week in their company. Mrs. Buxton teaches Maggie alot of self-sacrificing, and as Maggie grows she becomes a beautiful, pious young woman and she must learn to find her voice if she is to overcome some of the obstacles that come into her way.

For the most part I really enjoyed this novella. I love the way that Mrs. Gaskell writes and I have enjoyed all of the previous books of hers that I have read. She is one of my favorite authors. I think she has such a way with words and expressing simple thoughts and ideas, she can make the most mundane circumstances sound charming and poetic. This novella has all of the things that I love so much about her work. Also, for a novella the pace is never hurried and I never felt as if the story was skipping over major events to save time.

On the other hand, I don't think this is one of her strongest works. The story is at time too sentimental and I found that some of the characters were a little flat or too perfect. Maggie is so virtuous and never does anything wrong or complain about her lot in life. She feels horribly about the way her mother treats her but she doesn't moan about it. It seems a bit too much for a young girl to accept her life like that. Edward is so bad that at times he seems so flat and hardly ever shows any remorse for his actions. Also I see a lot of similarities in the relationships between Maggie and Frank and the relationship between Roger and Molly in Wives and Daughters but I think that by the time Mrs. Gaskell went to write Wives and Daughters she expanded so much on Roger and Molly and perfected this relationship perfectly. Also I see a lot of similarities in the relationships between Maggie and Frank and the relationship between Roger and Molly in Wives and Daughters but I think that by the time Mrs. Gaskell went to write Wives and Daughters she expanded so much on Roger and Molly and perfected this relationship perfectly. This novella is an excellent way to introduce Mrs. Gaskell's writings and see how well her writing develops when reading some of her later novels.

Love Elizabeth Gaskell!!! Thanks to Amazon for offering this little gem. Not as charming as "Cranford", though. Great service as always.

Ann Brazee

I really like this publisher. Their books are very attractive, the writings are big and clear, and nice feel of hold in my hands. Their prices are a bit high but well worth it if you enjoy a well-made piece of workmanship.
I hope they print more classic literature and make them a little less pricy in the future.

I don't like books that take too long to get to the story. You need a good beginning to draw the reader in. This one does not do that. I barely remember what I read so far!

I've just discovered a wonderful author-Elizabeth Gaskell. I've read a couple of her books and can hardly wait to read other books by her.