My favorite book of 2025 -- Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell. Written in the 1860s, set in the 1830s. I know that 19th-century domestic fiction is not everyone's taste, but it's long been one of my literary sweet spots. But somehow, except for Cranford (read as a college assignment), I never got around to reading much Gaskell.
I started Wives and Daughters because it is a free selection on Audible, and I'd been thinking about giving more Gaskell a try. The book is really LONG, but the characters are compelling, and I really like Gaskell's overall tone/style: funny, kind, clear-eyed, thoughtful. Sadly, she died before finishing the novel (it was being published serially), so we'll never know exactly how she would have completed it, but I felt satisfied with the ending that another writer provided at the time of G's death.
There was also a 1999 TV mini-series that was well-received and that I'm looking forward to watching.
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My favorite book of 2025 -- Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell. Written in the 1860s, set in the 1830s. I know that 19th-century domestic fiction is not everyone's taste, but it's long been one of my literary sweet spots. But somehow, except for Cranford (read as a college assignment), I never got around to reading much Gaskell.
I started Wives and Daughters because it is a free selection on Audible, and I'd been thinking about giving more Gaskell a try. The book is really LONG, but the characters are compelling, and I really like Gaskell's overall tone/style: funny, kind, clear-eyed, thoughtful. Sadly, she died before finishing the novel (it was being published serially), so we'll never know exactly how she would have completed it, but I felt satisfied with the ending that another writer provided at the time of G's death.
There was also a 1999 TV mini-series that was well-received and that I'm looking forward to watching.