Wives and Daughters
by Elizabeth Gaskell
Set in British society before the Reform Act of 1832, "Wives and Daughters" focuses on the story of young Molly Gibson, who was raised by her father from childhood. When she remarries, a new half-sister enters Molly's quiet life — sweet but worldly and anxious Cynthia. The story traces the transformation of two girls into womanhood in Hollingford's gossip and vigilant society. Haskell's latest novel is much more than a nostalgic call to rural life; it offers an ironic critique of the average Victorian society. "No nineteenth-century novel contains a more destructive rejection than the Victorian assumption of male moral authority."
