Sylvia's Lovers (Everyman Paperback Classics) (Paperback)

by Elizabeth Gaskell (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Set in the isolated whaling port of Monkshaven, Sylvia's Lovers (1863) exposes the tyrannical press-gangs, one of which carries off Sylvia's lover, the harpooner Charley Kinraid. Sylvia, left penniless and believing Charley dead, marries her cousin; when her first love returns a hero from the Napoleonic wars, treachery is revealed and Sylvia must make a fateful choice in this strange and powerful dramatization of human destruction.

From the Publisher
Founded in 1906 by J.M. Dent, the Everyman Library has always tried to make the best books ever written available to the greatest number of people at the lowest possible price. Unique editorial features that help Everyman Paperback Classics stand out from the crowd include: a leading scholar or literary critic's introduction to the text, a biography of the author, a chronology of her or his life and times, a historical selection of criticism, and a concise plot summary. All books published since 1993 have also been completely restyled: all type has been reset, to offer a clarity and ease of reading unique among editions of the classics; a vibrant, full-color cover design now complements these great texts with beautiful contemporary works of art. But the best feature must be Everyman's uniquely low price. Each Everyman title offers these extensive materials at a price that competes with the most inexpensive editions on the market-but Everyman Paperbacks have durable binding, quality paper, and the highest editorial and scholarly standards.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Orion Publishing Group, Ltd. (May 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0460877836
• ISBN-13: 978-0460877831
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,667,794 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars History's Cold Shadow, April 18, 2001

By	K. K. Woofter "karwinwalpole" (Montreal, QC Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In this bleak novel Elizabeth Gaskell deftly weaves a dark thread of history into her narrative tapestry. While war hovers on the margins of the novel, no one is left unaffected by its horror. After a sometimes painfully slow setup of domestic life in the seaside town of Monkshaven in the first third of the book, the sense of doom grows increasingly palpable. Sylvia, the novel's heroine, is isolated by her supposedly protective domestic sphere, but Gaskell shatters the delicate domestic circle that surrounds her. While Sylvia is left to bear emotional scars, becoming an impassive, hardened woman, Charley Kinraid, her true love, returns from war a ghost, haunting the margins of Monkshaven to hide his terrible physical scars. The full realization of the blight on Sylvia's life comes when the novel spirals down to its inevitable conclusion, where even reconciliation and understanding brings a powerful sense of loss.