Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell

When the privileged Margaret Hale's father uproots the family to take work in the northern mill town of Milton, she is shocked by the dirt and gruffness of the people. But she reserves her highest contempt for the charismatic mill-owner, John Thornton.

Set in a richly portrayed society well-stocked with eccentric nobles and gossipy villagers, this story centers around 17-year-old Molly Gibson, the only daughter of a respected country doctor. The well-ordered world of Molly's childhood is soon to be complicated by new people and unexpected situations. Most devastating is her father's decision to remarry after many years of widowhood. Molly's faltering efforts to cope gracefully with an impossible...

Cranford: For spinsters Deborah Jenkyns, the arbiter of correctness in Cranford, and Matty, her demurring sister, the town is a hub of intrigue. A handsome new doctor, Frank Harrison, has arrived from London, a retired Army captain and his daughters have moved into a house opposite the sisters, and the preparations for Lady Ludlow's garden party are under way. Everyone -- from charming rogue Dr. Marshland to mean Mrs. Jamieson and her lap dog -- talks,...