To Buy or Not to Buy?
That is the question! Volunteers at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House are often asked whether Elizabeth ever bought 84 Plymouth Grove. The answer is definitely not, but her daughters, Meta and Julia, […]
The Portico Sadie Massey Awards
We’re thrilled to learn that Elizabeth Gaskell is inspiring a new generation of readers and writers! Now in their sixth year, the prestigious Portico Sadie Massey Awards, organised by The […]
Brontë’s Mistress – a talk by Finola Austin (video)
In February 2021, we enjoyed a real transatlantic treat! Historical novelist Finola Austin talked to us (from her home in New York) about Brontë’s Mistress. The novel tells the story of […]
Elizabeth & Esther – a talk by Sherry Ashworth (video)
That Elizabeth Gaskell knew her Bible hardly needs stating, but what use did she make of it in her fiction? In particular, what use did she make of The Book […]
Lydia Helen Burton (1823-1877)
An introduction to the Curate’s wife The Covid-19 lockdown has meant the Society being unable to go ahead with many of its planned talks and events for 2020. One of […]
Lockdown Reads – Part 2
Again, I hope that everyone is keeping safe, well and entertained. Gaskell Society members have been sharing their current and favourite lockdown reads and a few recommendations for great telly […]
Lockdown Reads – Part 1
One of the few silver linings to the Covid cloud that’s currently hanging over us is (for many of us) more time to read, and as we are members of […]
Six Weeks at Heppenheim (1862)
Only four pieces of Gaskell’s writing were published in May: the last two episodes of Cranford, an obscure piece entitled ‘Company Manners’ (1854) and the short story, “Six Weeks at Heppenheim”. […]
Fever in Eccleston! Ruth, Chapter 33
While reading Elizabeth Gaskell’s novel Ruth in connection with another project, I came across some passages that seemed uncannily apt to our own situation – the Great Fever of 2020. As […]
The Shoddy Court Literary & Mutual Improvement Society
Our very good friend, Dr Michael Sanders, Senior Lecturer in C19th Writing at the University of Manchester, is running a virtual reading group via Zoom during the COVID-19 lockdown period. […]