I was torn when rating this book and may have been to harsh with three stars. It's very well written; detailing the lives of a group of unmarried women in the town of Cranford. Gaskell depicts in a humorous and ironic way this group of women with their concerns about etiquette and their attempts at keeping up appearances of gentility despite their poverty. She had me laughing in the first few chapters but then I confess at times I lost interest. I suppose that's why I gave it only three stars. I also preferred Wives and Daughters, so for me it's wasn't my favourite of her work.