Mrs. Gaskell's Village
FTER their marriage, the Gaskells lived in Manchester, and that was the background of Mrs. Gaskell’s first novel, "Mary Barton." It showed Manchester in a period of industrial distress; and by her understanding portrayal of work-people, and their real thoughts and feelings; Mrs. Gaskell was able to influence public opinion and help in improving working conditions at a time when a great deal of improvement was needed. Literary people are sometimes despised by "practical" folk for their inefficiency, for living in the clouds, but Mrs. Gaskell was one of a crowd of reformers, along with Tom Hood (who wrote "The Song of the Shirt"), and Mrs, Browning and Dickens. "Mary Barton" was received with enthusiasm, and two years later, in. 1850, Dickens invited Mrs. Gaskell to contribute to his periodical, "Household Words." Thus came into being that much-loved story of a little English town, "Cranford," with its old maids, its tea parties, its
fragrant memories, its little romances and excitements. Mrs. Gaskell had, like Jane Austen before her, found her material in the people among whom
she was brought up.-
(Miss
Margaret
Johnston
"A
Few Minutes With Women Novelists: Mrs. Gaskell,"
2YA, December 14).
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19401220.2.11.5
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 78, 20 December 1940, Page 5
Word count
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197Mrs. Gaskell's Village New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 78, 20 December 1940, Page 5
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
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