Reading Cranford is like stepping into a different world—an old-fashioned world of bonnets and candles, of tea-trays and sedan chairs.  It’s a world where ladies spread newspapers over their new rugs to keep them from fading, and try to whiten their old lace by soaking it in milk.  But for all that, the town of Cranford isn’t so different from the real world; there are always faults to overcome and offenses to forgive.

The book Cranford, by the way, is not to be mistaken for the TV series of the same name, which took inspiration from the book certainly, but combined it (to good effect) with a plot from one of Gaskell’s other short novels and additional inspiration from her book My Lady Ludlow.

Cranford is a fairly short book, along the length of Northanger Abbey or The Scarlet Pimpernel.  It’s not a thrilling story—in fact, it has very little plot—and isn’t likely to interest children; I think it would be interesting to readers 15+, more or less.

As usual, you can skip straight to the bottom for a brief conclusion and link to an ebook version, or read on through for full details!