Book description
Elizabeth Gaskell's only historical novel, Sylvia's Lovers, is set in
1790 in the seaside town of Monkshaven (Whitby) where press-gangs wreak
havoc by seizing young men for service in the Napoleonic wars. One of
their victims is whaling harpooner, Charley Kinraid, whose charm and
vivacity have captured the heart of Sylvia Robson. But Sylvia's devoted
cousin, Philip Hepburn, hopes to marry her himself and, in order to win
her, deliberately withholds crucial information - with devastating
consequences. With its themes of suffering, unrequited love, and the
clash between desire and duty, Sylvia's Lovers is one of the most
powerfully moving of all Gaskell's novels, reputedly described by its
author as 'the saddest story I ever wrote'.
Elizabeth Gaskell wrote much social and realist fiction during the
nineteenth century, having attracted the attention of Dickens when she
wrote for his journal Household Works
Shirley Foster is a Senior Lecturer in English and American
Literature at the University of Sheffield. She has published widely,
notably on Victorian women's fiction, Edith Wharton and female travel literature.
Shirley Foster is a Senior Lecturer in English and American
Literature at the University of Sheffield. She has published widely,
notably on Victorian women's fiction, Edith Wharton and female travel literature.
