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.
Hello! I hope you are having a good day :) During Bout of Books I (mainly) listened to Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell as I got the audiobook from my library but I did follow along/ read some out of my physical book too. I read North and South last year and loved it, I also adore the BBC miniseries. While Cranford isn't quite up there with North and South I stilled really enjoyed.
It was originally published in parts in Dickens' serial magazine Household Words so each little chapter is like it own little episode/story type thing but the characters are the same and some things do go over or there may be little hints and foreshadowing every now and then. I liked this format a lot especially for a readathon because it was quick little parts.
Cranford is set around the women of Cranford and they are like a core cast and then other characters come and go. Our narrator spends much of her time there but doesn't actually live so we have an outsiders perspective. Each character has there own little amusing quirk and it was just so lovely and quaint.
A benefit of listening to the audiobook was how you automatic got the tone of the book and the lady narrating it just made it very sarcastic and was showing how trivial many of the things were. But the when it came to the serious side that was well done too. I'm not going to lie I shed a few tears here and there some sad and some happy. The ending was my favourite because even though I had predicted it was going to happen it was lovely, lovely to happen to the most adorable character of Miss Matty.
So if you're looking for a quick, light quaint read that is very well written this is it. I can't wait to read more of Gaskell's work!
Speak soon,
Jade xx
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