Blogs & News

Blogs & News : Your Online Gothic Autumn 2026

The shadows are calling. This autumn, leave the mundane behind and step into a world of monsters and the macabre with haunting stories by some of your favourite women writers. Embrace the darkness with our Online Gothic Season, all from the comfort of your own home. Book now Starting with an Introduction to Elizabeth Gaskell's Gothic Fiction, we take a look the early Mothers of the Gothic and the dark creations of Mary Shelley in Beyond Frankenstein. Then

Events : Welcome to the World of Cranford – Your Online Events

Welcome to the world of, what must surely be Elizabeth Gaskell's most charming novel, Cranford. This story of the 'Amazons' of Cranford has never been out of print. Now a new season of events just for you celebrates the quiet strength of women's community and the most enduring friendships in literature. Here you can value the small joys: the perfect cup of tea, the first bloom in a well-tended garden, and the comfort of a shared story. In a world

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

Blogs & News : Cousin Phillis

‘“I loved him, father!” she said at length, raising her eyes.’ Cousin Phillis by Elizabeth Gaskell, 1863-64 Cousin Phillis is the perfect length – somewhere between a short story and a novel – and a precursor to Elizabeth Gaskell’s masterpiece Wives and Daughters. It tells a coming of age story as Phillis, only daughter of a farming couple, meets and slowly falls in love with railway engineer Edward Holdsworth in Victorian England. What's the Story? The title character

Blogs & News : Life in Manchester – Libbie Marsh’s Three Eras

'How long is it since you were a beauty?' Life in Manchester - Libbie Marsh's Three Eras, 1847 Life in Manchester – Libbie Marsh’s Three Eras was one of Elizabeth Gaskell’s earliest works and was published under the pen-name ‘Cotton Mather Mills, Esq.’ This very short story looks at motherhood, loss and marriage through the reality of working-class life in Manchester – a precursor to later novels like Mary Barton and North and South. What's Libbie Marsh's First