Author:Elizabeth Gaskell
With an essay by Anna Unsworth.
'Just at this moment he passed us on the stairs, making such a graceful bow, in reply to which I dropped a curtsey - all foreigners have such polite manners, one catches something of it'
Cranford is an affectionate and often moving portrait of genteel poverty and intertwined lives in a nineteenth-century village. One of Elizabeth Gaskell's most beloved works, it centres on a community dominated by women and governed by old-fashioned ways. The formidable Miss Deborah Jenkyns and the kindly Miss Matty's days revolve around card games, tea, thriftiness and an endless appetite for scandal, until change comes into their world - whether it is the modern ideas of Captain Brown, a bank collapse, rumours of burglars or an unexpected reappearance from the past.
The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.
Whimsically devastating. Playful, humorous, serious, profoundly clever and profoundly affecting
—— GuardianRemarkable. A brilliant novel: funny, serious, always surprising, always true
—— The TimesI take my hat off to Ali Smith. Her writing lifts the soul
—— Evening StandardA playfully serious or seriously playful novel full of wit and pleasure. Wonderful
—— ObserverEccentric, adventurous, intoxicating, dazzling. This is a novel with serious ambitions that remains huge fun to read. The writing dances along
—— Literary ReviewPoignant, empathetic, funny. A book full of kindness and compassion
—— Time OutFizzying, affectionate, sparkling. Smith presents her world view in words as fresh as lemons. A joyful read
—— HeraldA tour de force
—— Lionel Shriver , Financial TimesA virtuoso piece of writing, both funny and gripping . . . Smith is a writer with a rich array of conventional strengths
—— Times Literary SupplementA must read
—— Toronto NOWCharming and quirky
—— BookbagDefinitely one to watch
—— Big Issue (National)Hudson’s ear for language…raises this debut novel well above the average
—— Lesley McDowell , Glasgow Sunday HeraldJanie’s irrepressible, childish glee and the sly humour into which it evolves give the novel a wry self-awareness that is both refreshing and endearing
—— Lettie Ransley , ObserverA gripping, often hilarious tale of growing up in the slums of Aberdeen. Hard to put down owing to the power of the narrative, its DNA is part Roddy Doyle/part Irvine Welsh
—— Ijeoma Onweluzo , The LadyA sumptuous novel. Read it for the sentences and smarts, and for the copious sexy parts
—— Richard Ford , Guardian, Books of the YearEverything I want from a love story: sexy, convincing, baffling, funny, sad and unforgettable
—— Juliet Nicholson , Evening Standard, "Books of the Year"Banville's exquisitely written novel unravels the deceptions of memory with wit and pathos
—— Telegraph
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