20. Cranford

Absolutely wonderful. I have always been a huge fan of Jane Austen and writer's of her era. This book was originally published in installments in 1853 as a result of a request by Charles Dickens. This wonderful story of the small town of Cranford - with almost everyone who is anyone being female - introduces us to Miss Mattie, who is constantly striving to behave in a Proper manner. The women in Miss Mattie's world are brought to life through the eyes of a frequent visitor to the small English town. My favorite qoute concerns "the mouldy smell of aristocracy" which surprisingly enough is the most cherished memory of these women for whom the charade of aristocracy is the norm. In the end, the friendships and love take over the novel and leave the reader hoping to learn more about this small hamlet. Happily this is possible, because the author continues (or adds to) the story in The Chronicles of Cranford. PBS recently aired the combined stories in their Masterpiece Theatre.

If you enjoy this work by Elizabeth Gaskell, you can read three of her other works at Daily Lit. You can also read this entire work from Google Books.

TITLE: Cranford
AUTHOR: Elizabeth Gaskell
COPYRIGHT: 1853
PAGES: 304
TYPE: Fiction
RECOMMEND: Wonderful classic, everyone should read

FlusiCat

Starting over

OK - I admit the first attempt at keeping things straight here was not so good. So I am going to start over. I mean, really, who cares but me? I believe that I will aim for fifty books by the end of 2008. Keeping myself honest by not including all of the books that I read while on winter holiday - my library is closed for 2.5 weeks at Christmas time. One week of that my husband still had to work, so I spent most of that week reading - delightfully interesting books, such as: In My Brother's Image, The Thirteenth Tale, and Confessions of a Shopaholic to name a few. But I will be honest and stick to only those that I have read since New Year's Day.

Speaking of New Year's Day - wishing you a wonderful year of reading and blogging. Cheers,
LibrarysCat