|
|
Article: Writing and Victorianism.(Review)
- Article from:
- The Modern Language Review
- Article date:
- January 1, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 Modern Humanities Research Association. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Elizabeth Gaskell: The Early Years. By JOHN CHAPPLE. Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press. 1997. xviii + 492 pp. 25 [pounds sterling].
This is a remarkable and valuable book. It is remarkable for the perseverance and enthusiasm with which John Chapple has pursued his intricate and complex enquiry into the lives, opinions, and economic realities of Elizabeth Gaskell's family and friends; it is valuable because Gaskell was one of those writers for whom all sorts of fragments were useful, whose art thrived on detail, gossip, and accumulated memory. 'Remember', she wrote to Harriet Carr, 'every little, leetle, particular about yourself, and your concerns, ...