Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell’s journey to becoming one of the most celebrated authors of the Victorian age was borne from an intensely difficult time in her life. In 1845, she lost her infant son to scarlet fever and, at her husband’s encouragement, turned to writing for nothing more than an outlet for her grief and a possible path out of depression. The result was her first novel, and an instant success: Mary Barton: A Tale of Manchester Life.
About a desperate working-class family, it
