Cranford

A narrator records the customs, economies and friendships of a small town whose social life is chiefly governed by women.

Read the book Contents

Listen free: the LibriVox audiobook, read by Sibella Denton. Press Listen in the reader to hear each chapter as you read.

Length: 16 chapters
Reading time: About 4 hr 56 min
Words: 70,380

About the book

Cranford's ladies manage their gardens, servants, visits and opinions with considerable independence. The narrator introduces their society through its small rules and firm assumptions, showing a community in which everyone knows a good deal about everyone else.

Gaskell finds comedy in the distance between genteel appearances and limited means, but her attention is affectionate as well as sharp. Episodes of visiting and conversation make room for individual histories, allowing practical kindness to carry as much weight as etiquette or social position.

On these lists

Victorian novels Comic classics

This edition

Text from Standard Ebooks, who proofread and typeset it and dedicate their edition to the public domain. Elizabeth Gaskell died more than 70 years ago, so the work is out of copyright in the UK.