A young woman named Mary Smith visits the small English town of Cranford repeatedly over the course of several years. Through her, we get to know the people of the town reasonably well. Most of them are women, and most of the women are aging and a bit poor. Some become quite poor over the course of the story. But they all behave, dress, and talk in the most genteel way they can manage -- sometimes that becomes ridiculous and laughable, and sometimes that becomes endearing.
The whole point, obviously, is to poke a little fun at societal conventions and those who adhere strictly to them, as well as to make plain the very narrow world women were forced to inhabit in the mid-1800s. It's at once a bit satirical, a bit ironic, and very sympathetic.
Particularly Good Bits:
Although the ladies of Cranford know all each other's proceedings, they are exceedingly indifferent to each other's opinions (p. 5).
"Ah!" he said, "we farmers ought not to have much time for reading; yet somehow one can't help it" (p. 42).
"I only hope it is not improper; so many pleasant things are!" (p. 43)
If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: G for being good, wholesome, lovely, and genuinely charming.
This has been my fourth book read for my fourth Classics Club list, and also my 51st book read from my TBR shelves for #TheUnreadShelfProject2022.
I have never read this, but I hear the writer of the series killed off a rather important character unnecessarily on the show, which frustrated me a great deal. There's only so many tragic things I can take in one series, especially if that's not what the author intended. I should try the book sometime...
ReplyDeleteCharity, yeah, that did happen in season 2 of the show and it was SHOCKING in the EXTREME! The book is gentler, though there are some deaths there too. But you see them coming.
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