Elizabeth Gaskell's masterpiece Wives and Daughters is an enchanting tale of romance, scandal, and intrigue in the gossipy English town of Hollingford around the 1830s.

With a series of sketches, Cranford lovingly describes the "adventures" of middle-aged ladies in the quiet country village of Cranford in the 1830s. Despite their poverty, residents of the village are kind, decent, and thoro...