Book Review: Wives & Daughters, by Elizabeth Gaskell

[olde_fashioned]

Title: Wives and Daughters
Written by: Elizabeth Gaskell
Genre: Fiction, Classic Literature

Wives & Daughters is something I’d never even heard of until I caught the end of the mini-series on PBS once. While Elizabeth Gaskell appears to have somewhat of a following (at least in Japan and amongst N&S fans), when I tried to locate a copy in my local library branch there wasn’t a single book written by her on the shelves. (and no, I do not live in a one-horse town with a teeny tiny library.)

The edition I read was a wonderful Penguin paperback with tons of footnotes, (oddly enough purchased in the Library’s friend’s used bookstore!) and I was grateful for them, especially with Gaskell’s seemingly frequent habit of alluding to other literary works.

Unfortunately, Gaskell died suddenly before finishing W&D, which was being published as a serial in Charles Dicken’s publication in the 1860s.

Overall, I really enjoyed it, and I'd read it again and recommend it to anyone, especially those who are fond of Jane Austen. :-)

Now it's off to Netflix the mini-series...

(ETA: Would you believe it's got a long wait?!? Arg!!)
(Edit: Netflix finally delivered, and so I've seen all the mini-series now. Of course I loved it, and it's definitely something I recommend. Not that I didn't know that before, however!)




Postitive Elements:

~ All in all I thought it was a very sweet story. I loved the down-home country feel to the whole book, and despite it’s tendency to gossip Hollingford seemed like a pleasant place to live.

~ Molly Gibson is likeable as a heroine, despite her somewhat Fanny Price-ish timidity. (It‘s very interesting that Mrs. Hamley referred to her as “Fanny“…hmmm…) She is steadfast, loyal, and longsuffering. Her devotion to her family and friends is admirable,

~ Roger Hamley is, to quote Mary Poppins, practially perfect in every way. ;-P I’m not aware of a single flaw EG gives him -- except for the fact that he fell for Cynthia, of course. He was always so sweet and kind to Molly, and faithful and reliable to Osbourn. I loved how he kept his brother’s secret, but he still urged him to do the right thing and admit his marriage on his own.

~ Lady Harriet Lady Harriet Lady Harriet!!! Need I say more?? ;-P



Negative Elements:
(okay, this is somewhat of a stretch, but I can hardly put Cynthia in the "positive" category!!)

~ Hyacinth Clare Kirkpatrick Gibson -- she’s as ridiculous as her name. I couldn’t STAND her!! She is so utterly selfish, so completely out-to-lunch, that she really makes you want to smack her.

~ Cynthia -- I don’t know that she really fits in either category, but since I disaproved of so much of her conduct, I didn’t know where else to put her.

~ Mr Preston was quite creepy in my opinion. His possessiveness of Cynthia, and his threats showed him for the rat he really was. I’ll give him a teensy tiny bit of credit for eventually giving up the letters, but really, once threatened with Lady Harriet (!) who hates his guts anyway!! I wonder how it felt for a worldy man of 30-something to be outsmarted by a teenaged girl. ;-)

~ While I really kind of liked Squire Hamley as a character, the way he treated his family, and his selfish demands of his sons and their future choice of wives really irked me. Plus I think favouritism amongst one’s children is abominable -- look at where that got Joseph in the Bible! Lucky for the Squire that Roger bore no malice towards his older brother for their parents’ preferences. The same holds true for Osbourn once circumstances became reversed.

~ The Evolutionary allusions that I’ve heard about are (IMVHO) nowhere near as clear as I thought. The only “big” one was Roger’s paper that he wrote that was recognized overseas, and his meeting various famous naturalists. The editor in my edition insisted every other sentence was a Darwinian reference or a feministic jab. (According to the idiot editor Dr. Gibson’s pet name “Goosey” for his daughter is sexist as it implies a lack of mental capacity on her part. *rolls eyes*)

~ Osbourn’s secret keeping was wrong, IMO. It was rather cowardly of him to be too afraid of disinheritance to stand up to his father. I would have liked to know more about the entail -- would it have prevented the Squire from disinheriting Osbourn in the first place?

~~~

Comments

[sabrinafair2.livejournal.com]

I haven't been on livejournal in ever because my computer broke! I'm at an internet cafe right now, do you know what book is next on the list for olde_and_grey?

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

Oh you poor THING!!!! I sincerely pity your predicament! I don't know what I would do without my computer. 8-\ I was missing you; now I know where you went. ;-)

Hard Times by Charles Dickens is next -- we're supposed to start sometime in May. Hope this helps!!