The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 discussion

Please post any additional and background information about the book or the author which you think will be useful and helpful for our discussion of the book Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell. Please post spoiler warnings when appropriate.

I have put some Gaskell background stuff on the Our Gaskell Reading' thread.

There are a lot of historical and cultural references in W&D so be sure to get an editin, like Penguin, with a good set of Notes.

I just bought Jenny Uglow's biography of Elizabeth Gaskell. Beautiful cover! Aa soon as I start reading it I will post some interesting facts concerning wives and daughters

According to the introduction of my Penguin edition, Hollingford (like Cranford) was based on the Cheshire vilage of Knutsford, where Elizabeth Gaskell was brought up by her aunt. It's only a few miles from where I live: I don't know it well, but it's now a small, genteel town rather than a village, with some nice Georgian buildings and house prices to match.

About a mile from Knutsford is Tatton Hall, the stately home on which Cumnor Towers was supposedly based. It's very grand (as you can see from the link here: right-click on it to open it in a new tab) but I would call it imposing rather than beautiful. It's open to the public, but I actually find the scale of it a bit daunting and impersonal.

As for Hamley Hall, I don't know if that was based on any particular house: there are any number to choose from in the area, but I like to think it might have been Peover Hall in the nearby village of Over Peover (lovely name!) Certainly it's an old red-brick building, as Hamley Hall is said to be. At any rate, this may give you an idea of the sort of settings Mrs Gaskell had in mind.

Thank you, Emma, for the descriptions and links. Seeing such beauty challenges me to try harder to visualize beauty described. I am wishing I had gotten the Penguin classic edition now. Good to know for the future.

Thank you for the links, Emma. The video on the Tatton Hall page even included the hothouses, where they apparently grow pineapples now. Before watching that video, I had no real sense of the size and scope of the grounds.

Thanks to Emma for the helpful visuals. They really do give a better sense of proportion.

I've just been to visit Elizabeth Gaskell's house on Plymouth Grove, Manchester, where she lived while writing Wives and Daughters and other of her novels. It recently opened to the public after being derelict for years. It's a mile or two south of the city centre, a pleasantly spacious house without being grand. Four rooms downstairs have been refurbished in the style of the period: parlour, dining room, drawing room and Willian Gaskell's study. Sadly hardly any of her original furnishings survived, so it's good for general atmosphere rather than accuracy; but that does mean you can handle things, take books off the shelves etc. Mrs Gaskell wrote in a light bay window in the dining room, which had 3 doors so people must have been constantly in and out.

They're planning to refurbish her bedroom next, and presumably more of the house after that. It's manned by very knowledgeable and friendly volunteers. I'd say it's not worth a special trip to see unless you live close by or are a real Gaskell aficionado, but worth a look if you're visiting Manchester (it's about 10 mins walk from the excellent Whitworth Gallery and the University.) Otherwise, the website gives a good idea of the house and other info about the Gaskells.

Lovely. Thanks again, Emma.