Blogs & News

: Online Course – Feisty Females – Elizabeth Bennet from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice

Literature is full of impressive female characters and now you can enjoy four feisty females from your favourite novelists! So join us this autumn/winter for cosy nights in with other literature fans to take a fresh look at Elizabeth Bennet from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Shirley from Charlotte Bronte's Shirley, Margaret Hale from Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South and Esther from George Moore’s Esther Waters. All four heroines hold fast to their principles and they get what they want by the end

: I’ve Never Read Elizabeth Gaskell

Early in 2025 Elizabeth Gaskell's House announced its inaugural Writers Residency funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to celebrate the House's 10-year anniversary of opening to the public. ‘I’ve Never Read Elizabeth Gaskell’ features work by three young writers Georgia Affonso, Princess Arinola Adegbite and Guruleen Kahlo, who completed a spring residency at the House. The immersive exhibition flows throughout the House and includes Guruleen’s short stories, Georgia’s play available in audio format, and poems by Princess,

: Online Event: International Women’s Day – Breaking Boundaries

Join our three literary houses in an evening to celebrate women writers who broke boundaries as we mark International Women’s Day. Step into the worlds of novelists Anne Brontë and Elizabeth Gaskell, and their feminist predecessors Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Robinson. Celebrate how these four writers shook the world and broke the contemporary social constraints on women. Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary Long remembered only for her relationship with the Prince of Wales, Mary Robinson has been reclaimed as one

: Online Course: A Man’s World – Lovers – John Thornton and Mr Rochester

**Please note this is a repeat of the previously sold-out February workshop** What do Victorian novelists have to say about men as fathers, lovers, activists, wealth creators – and kings? In this new course led by Dr Sherry Ashworth, we will start by looking at Elizabeth Gaskell’s John Barton in Mary Barton (father) and then move onto John Thornton in North and South together with Mr Rochester from Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre (lovers). Then we will explore George

: Online Talk: Valentine’s Day – Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë and Elizabeth Gaskell

‘Reader, I married him.’ Celebrate Valentine's Day with a closer look at classic romances from your favourite authors. Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë and Elizabeth Gaskell created some of the best-loved heroes ever to grace page or screen with Pride and Prejudice’s Mr Darcy, Jane Eyre’s Mr Rochester and, of course, North and South’s smouldering Mr Thornton. Now popular speaker Elizabeth Williams is back with a new talk celebrating how these very different writers tackled love and romance in