A delightful book, that mixes elements of both Austen and Bronte, but that certainly has it's own charm nonetheless. Gaskell, as.a writer, has neither Bronte's overwhelming passion nor Austen's deft pen, but she comes into her own with her obvious affection for her characters nd her very real portrayals of the follies of all humankind. We don't quite laugh at them, but we recognize them.
That bein sid, I really wish I'd known when I started this book that Gaskell died before finishing it. On the bright side, it's a Victorian novel. I could predict the ending after the first...oh, fifty pages?
Anyway, as one of the slightly less well known authors nowadays, I'm glad I've discovered Gaskell's work. She's well worth a read.