Classics Club: Wives and Daughters
Title: Wives and Daughters: An Everyday Story
Author: Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865)
Publishing Date: Serialized: August 1864 to January 1866; book 1866
Format Used: Audiobook by Tantor Audiobook Classics (26 hours, 50 minutes)
 |
| source |
A long, but captivating classic about the lives of different families in the quaint English village of Hollingford during the early 1800s. Our heroine is Molly Gibson, whose father (the well-respected village doctor) remarries after nearly two decades as a widow, introducing a new mother to Molly. Hyacinth (aka Clare) is an insensitive, pretentious, snobby, and selfish step-mother, but she is not quite a villain, mainly because she is just so ridiculous and amusing amidst her fluttering and busyness at attempting to be marry her daughter off to the wealthiest suites as well as her constant name-dropping and awe of the genteel upper society of the esteemed Lord and Lady Cumnor (of whom she was employed years before as a governess for their daughters). She also tries to do well by Molly, though she is oblivious of what Molly really wants or needs because she is so focused on herself. Her own daughter, Cynthia, who is the same age as Molly, moves in and she brings a whole lot of drama since she is a flirt. Cynthia and Molly get along immediately, though they are polar opposites. Supporting characters, especially the eccentric and gossipy townswomen like Miss Browning and Mrs. Goodenough, help the story along, with incredibly amusing bits. I enjoyed how realistic the novel was; in a way it was like following along with the daily happenings of the townspeople (hence the subtitle) for both the mundane and exciting events, yet it was all equally delightful because of the attention to detail, wit, and overall charm of Mrs. Gaskell's writing. I also liked the depth of her characters. No one is a pure villain (well, that's an oxymoron). No one is all bad; the reader can occasionally feel bad even for Hyacinth/Claire/Mrs.Gibson and Mr. Preston, the two who are closest to antagonistic in the novel. Similarly, though Cynthia gets herself in awkward situations including multiple marriage proposals, there is more to her than a mere flirt. She often feels the victim to her mother's neglect of her, shipping her off to boarding school at the age of four as she herself was employed as a governess. I felt bad for Cynthia and felt like the complex details of her upbringing helped me better understand why she'd enjoy the attentions of men.
“I am not good, and I told you so. Somehow I cannot forgive her for her neglect of me as a child, when I would have clung to her. Besides, I hardly ever heard from her when I was at school. And I know she put a stop to my coming over to her wedding. I saw the letter she wrote to Madame Lefevre. A child should be brought up with its parents, if it is to think them infallible when it grows up.” (Cynthia)
This was Mrs. Gaskell's last novel before her untimely and sudden death and the last chapter was unfinished, though it is obvious what happens (I still wished there were a little more, even after nearly twenty-seven hours of the audiobook, so that should tell you how I felt about this charming book). There is plenty of critique and satire surrounding the mid-Victorian society and the roles the men and women, while also a beautiful coming-of-age story with the sweet and respectful (yet also courageous) Molly. I just adored her for so many reasons: her compassion for the rough-around-the-edges Squire Hamley when he was grieving, her willingness to put aside her desires in exchange for the supposed happiness of her father and half-sister, her defensiveness of her fellow simple village folk when the well-esteemed Lady Harriet pokes fun at them, her courage to help fix Cynthia's big problem with Mr. Preston even though it drags her own name through the mud, her loyalty to keep secrets that are not hers to share, and the way she shared what she thought in a direct yet respectful way rather than being fake. I was first introduced and endeared to the story years ago through the 1999 BBC four-part series, which I own on DVD. I finally read the book after choosing it for my classics reading challenges, and am eager to continue reading more of Gaskell's novels (I read and adored both North and South as well as Cranford in recent months and plan on reading Ruth next). If you are interested in the story, but don't have the time to read the book, the BBC series stays very true to the book and is incredibly well done!
A Few Quotes:
“I say, Gibson, we're old friends, and you're a fool if you take anything I say as an offence. Madam your wife and I did not hit it off the only time I ever saw her. I won't say she was silly, but I think one of us was silly, and it was not me.” (Squire Hamley)
“Oh! A little bird told us,' said Miss Browning. Molly knew that little bird from her childhood, and had always hated it, and longed to wring its neck. Why could not people speak out and say that they did not mean to give up the name of their informant?”
“Oh, don't call them "lies," sister; it's such a strong, ugly word. Please call them "tallydiddles” (Cynthia)
“Mrs. Gibson, it is true, was ready to go over the ground as many times as any one liked; but her words were always like ready-made clothes, and never fitted individual thoughts.”
“And she (Molly) had found her way into the library, and used to undo the heavy bars of the shutters if the housemaid had forgotten this duty, and mount the ladder, sitting on the steps, for an hour at a time, deep in some book of old English classics. The summer days were very short to this happy girl of seventeen.”
“To begin with the old rigmarole of childhood. In a country there was a shire, and in that shire there was a town, and in that town there was a house, and in that house there was a room, and in that room there was a bed, and in that bed there lay a little girl”
Author
Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865) grew up in London, but settled in Manchester with her when she married her husband, a Unitarian minister. There she witnessed the hardships of the working class, which aided her in writing some of her works, namely Mary Barton (her first novel) and the industrial novel, North and South. She began her writing career after the tragic death of an infant son, and continued writing until her sudden death at the age of fifty-five of a heart attack. Gaskell was a fabulous author who deserves to stand head-to-head with other Victorian-era female authors like Jane Austen and the Brontë sisters, though she's unfortunately not as well-known. Thankfully, several of her most beloved novels were picked up by BBC for adaptations, Cranford, Wives and Daughters, and North and South. I adore all three.
Rating:
★★★★★
Comments
Post a Comment
I love to hear your thoughts!
Elle Alice