I first became aware of Elizabeth Gaskell through television adaptions of her works Cranford and North and South; I then went on to read and enjoy those books. Sylvia’s Lovers is, by my count, the sixth Gaskell book I have read (I think I only have two left after this, ... more >
Since reading Middlemarch in 2010, I have been working my way through George Eliot’s fairly sparse backlist. I had already read Silas Marner in high school (I should reread it, actually) and hadn’t loved it. Middlemarch remains a high point for me (I now consider it one of my favorite ... more >
Dear Reader: Thomas Hardy and I have a fraught relationship (not that he’s aware of it, having been dead for the past 89 years). Once upon a time I read Jude the Obscure, and I did not like it. It was boring and depressing , a particularly noxious combination. Then ... more >