Alana Estelle

I started 2020 with two dense, intense reads; Anna Karenina by, Leo Tolstoy and A Tale of Two Cities by, Charles Dickens. Once I finished A Tale of Two Cities, I needed a light read, and so, I chose Cranford by, Elizabeth Gaskell. This short, barely 200-pager is about a community of women, of genteel poverty, in Cranford and all their goings-on. The narrator, Mary Smith, was from Cranford and her visits give the reader an inside peak into the gossip, concerns, and drama that could only interest a group of women, that really have nothing else to do. 

Even though Mary Smith is narrating the story, not much is revealed about her other than that she used to live in Cranford. Some readers may find this off-putting, especially if they prefer stories in which they can connect to the narrator. I actually found this a rather interesting technique; the nondescript storyteller made me focus more on the other characters. It also allowed me to feel as if I was a “fly on the wall,” cooly observing the society around me. Though Mary does have opinions and feelings, they don’t overwhelm the story, and the reader does get the impression that Mary is a caring young woman. 

What Gaskell does brilliantly in Cranford is create a witty satire of the life of women in Victorian society. Quite a few of these older characters never married, they don’t have anything beyond a basic education, and because they aren’t men, have no occupation. They have spent their lives gossiping about their neighbors, scrutinizing new comers, being very particular about their tea parties, and exaggerating random occurrences in the neighborhood for entertainment. These women are not wealthy, but they take pleasure in being refined enough to care about things being proper. There are little anecdotes from the characters woven throughout the narrative that are endearing and hilarious. 

I found the antics of this fictional, middle-aged, female society charming and delightful. There were passages that made me laugh out loud and snicker. Gaskell displays a subtle humor in Cranford that reminded me of Jane Austen. Gaskell also brings to the forefront a slightly sadder theme; what happens to a woman who never marries and is now an “old-maid”? These woman are sheltered and the emphasis they put on the most mundane things reveals Gaskell’s effort to show how limitations of being a woman with little means. However, because of community and the bonds that these women have developed, Gaskell shows that a woman can survive and get by with a little help from her friends. 

Cranford was just the light-hearted read I needed after the doom and gloom I had been reading. Some people have expressed that they found this short novel to be boring, and I can see why. There isn’t much that happens in this story; the emphasis is placed on the simple everyday life ad concerns if this female community. I do think that you have to be in the right frame of mind to read this. If you want something light, witty, and short, with a dash of the mundane, then you’ll probably enjoy this. If you like stories about every day people and their every day lives, you’ll also probably enjoy this. If you like social satire, then this is definitely something you may want to pick up.

Rating: 4/5