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A review by cmbhusker
Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell
5.0
I was not terribly excited to read this book, but facing a long road trip, I grabbed this audiobook from the library and gave it a whirl. My only exposure to Gaskell was the BBC adaptation of North & South, in which I find the heroine irritatingly judgy, but the actor who plays the male lead so incredibly delicious that I have watched the whole thing many times.
Anyway, I did not expect to love this book as much as I did. This book may as well be titled "Molly Gibson and Her Very Weird and Manipulative Stepmother." Hyacinth Clare Kirkpatrick Gibson is a piece of work, and Gaskell has a field day with this absurdly petty and selfish woman. Gaskell is quite funny, which I did not expect, and it's in a drily observational way about the absurdities of people and everyday life that I happen to love (and which reminds me of Austen). There are some other Austen echoes: the father in this story, like Mr. Bennet in P&P, is a sarcastic and funny man who at times makes some questionable parenting decisions and has, at least once, fallen victim to prettiness over sense in choosing a wife--yet he is still a lovable character, and deeply devoted to the heroine. The main love story, involving Molly Gibson, her sister, and Roger Hamley also has some significant whiffs of "Mansfield Park."
While I enjoyed the humor and the terrific portraits of character and personality present throughout the book, I perhaps most enjoyed the parallel story of "Fathers and Sons" that takes place within the Hamley clan. The difficulties, dysfunctions, and things left unsaid felt very real, as did the depictions of grief. “It’s not so easy to break one’s heart," says Squire Hamley in response to the fears for the life of a brokenhearted someone. "Sometimes I’ve wished it were. But one has to go on living—‘all the appointed days,’ as is said in the Bible.” Indeed.
It seems a cruel stroke of luck that Gaskell had a heart attack just before finishing this book. One can pretty well tell how things are going to work out, and an editor added notes at the end describing what was known about Gaskell's plans for each character's fate... but it's not the same. I would have loved to have read how she stitched things up for her characters! Nevertheless, this is still one of my favorite books of the year. I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on the TV adaptation, and to reading some of Gaskell's other works.
Anyway, I did not expect to love this book as much as I did. This book may as well be titled "Molly Gibson and Her Very Weird and Manipulative Stepmother." Hyacinth Clare Kirkpatrick Gibson is a piece of work, and Gaskell has a field day with this absurdly petty and selfish woman. Gaskell is quite funny, which I did not expect, and it's in a drily observational way about the absurdities of people and everyday life that I happen to love (and which reminds me of Austen). There are some other Austen echoes: the father in this story, like Mr. Bennet in P&P, is a sarcastic and funny man who at times makes some questionable parenting decisions and has, at least once, fallen victim to prettiness over sense in choosing a wife--yet he is still a lovable character, and deeply devoted to the heroine. The main love story, involving Molly Gibson, her sister, and Roger Hamley also has some significant whiffs of "Mansfield Park."
While I enjoyed the humor and the terrific portraits of character and personality present throughout the book, I perhaps most enjoyed the parallel story of "Fathers and Sons" that takes place within the Hamley clan. The difficulties, dysfunctions, and things left unsaid felt very real, as did the depictions of grief. “It’s not so easy to break one’s heart," says Squire Hamley in response to the fears for the life of a brokenhearted someone. "Sometimes I’ve wished it were. But one has to go on living—‘all the appointed days,’ as is said in the Bible.” Indeed.
It seems a cruel stroke of luck that Gaskell had a heart attack just before finishing this book. One can pretty well tell how things are going to work out, and an editor added notes at the end describing what was known about Gaskell's plans for each character's fate... but it's not the same. I would have loved to have read how she stitched things up for her characters! Nevertheless, this is still one of my favorite books of the year. I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on the TV adaptation, and to reading some of Gaskell's other works.