Blogs & News

Blogs & News : Interview with Brian Percival: Historical Drama, Northern Roots and the Director’s Craft

Brian Percival is a director whose career journey has taken him from his working-class roots in Liverpool to one of the most respected names in British television and film. With notable works such as North and South, The Book Thief and All Creatures Great and Small, Percival’s storytelling style is known for its rich emotional depth and stunning visual presentation. In this interview, we explore his creative process, the appeal of historical dramas, and the influence of his

Blogs & News : Your Online Events for 2026: Short Stories and More

You are cordially invited to Elizabeth Gaskell’s House’s season of events on Short Stories including Cranford and the Gothic! Fancy some variety? Too busy for a longer novel? These Short Stories are the perfect answer. Plus we have a not-to-be-missed partnership event with the Brontë Parsonage Museum and Jane Austen's House. Elizabeth Gaskell's Short Stories have got it all: comedy, tragedy, sensationalism, realism, journalism and the macabre. This new year, share in the joy of Elizabeth Gaskell's Short Stories from Cranford

Events : 2026 Online Reading Workshops – The Gothic

Take a walk on the wild side with our new reading course looking at horror, mystery and the darker side of the human condition. We’re taking on some giants of the Gothic to explore literature’s supernatural forces, from the terrible monster of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein to the wild and windy moors of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights. Many of your favourite women writers wrote Gothic novels so now is the time to dig a little deeper into the underbelly of nineteenth-century literature.

other : Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein: The Father, the Son and the Spirit of Hope

As the long winter evenings continue, here is a ghost story to get you through these cold and bleak January nights. Mary Shelley’s genre-defining Frankenstein is a fitting tale for this time of year. Shelley strands her protagonist, the scientist Victor Frankenstein, in a bleak, icy landscape, and sets his creation - a man built from the body parts of dead bodies - on his trail. But alongside this ‘monster’, Victor is haunted by memories. He remembers his
Cranford illustration women at table

Blogs & News : ‘Cranford is in possession of the Amazons.’

'In the first place, Cranford is in possession of the Amazons... whatever does become of the gentlemen, they are not at Cranford.' Best known for the TV adaptation starring Judi Dench, Elizabeth Gaskell’s novel Cranford started life as a series of short stories. The first, ‘Our Society in Cranford’, appeared in 1851. It introduced gentle incidents of rural life including characters like the much-loved Miss Matty and her upright sister Miss Jenkyns. There were seven more short stories
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