Wives and Daughters

"Lesser Austen, better than Barbara Cartland.<br/><br/>If you've ever wondered how the Bennett sisters' daughters might have turned out, you may find this interesting. Although written in 1866, it is set 30 years earlier, in a time when Austen's universe of landed gentry was undergoing serious challenges from industrialization, scientific discovery, and social mobility.All are themes in the novel, which centers around a brilliant Scottish physician who marries a dim-witted, self-absorbed ex governess and social climber. Dr Gibson is admired by the local gentry for his intellect and integrity, but his imprudent marriage has disastrous consequences for his daughter Molly,who is saddled with a highly unsuitable stepmother. However, Molly's love for her flighty stepsister Cynthia ultimately redeems them all, and her selfless devotion to the dilettetantish aristocrats, gruff landowners, and querulous maiden ladies in her neighborhood wins all hearts...especially that of Roger, the local squire's unexpectedly brilliant son. <br/><br/>Wives and Daughters will often remind you of other, better novels, (the tart relationship between Dr and Mrs Gibson echoes Mr. and Mrs Bennett, and the brooding, dissipated Osborne is pure Bronte), and I do wish Molly and Cynthia didn't weep quite so often.Yet I can't recall any other such novels where two of the heroes are men of science, or where the various social classes are presented with such clarity and overall sympathy. While not a great novel, the large well-drawn cast of characters and winning heroine makes this a worthwhile read."

"I knew this had been finished by her editor after her death, but I didn’t expect the Concluding Remarks to make me so emotional. <br/><br/><blockquote>“Here the story is broken off, and it can never be finished. What promised to be the crowning work of a life is a memorial of death. A few days longer, and it would have been a triumphal column, crowned with a capital of festal leaves and flowers: now it is another sort of column—one of those sad white pillars which stand broken in the churchyard.”</blockquote><br/><br/><blockquote>“But it is useless to speculate upon what would have been done by the delicate strong hand which can create no more Molly Gibsons—no more Roger Hamleys.”</blockquote><br/><br/><blockquote>“... that she has gifted us with some of the truest, purest works of fiction in the language. And she was herself what her works show her to have been—a wise, good woman.”</blockquote><br/><br/>Here’s to Elizabeth Gaskell and open-ended yet fulfilling endings. <br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>[I do want to take the time to acknowledge that there is blatant racism present in this book. I don’t think it’s right to laud her efforts without pointing out her failings.]"

"I first watched the movie series by BBC, so the book was different than expected. However, the depth of the story is much deeper. I'm a Jane Austen fan, and also read North and South, written by this author so I enjoyed this read. Different in many ways from expected, but still enjoyable."

"It took me five hours to get into the book, but after that, it became actually quite good. However, it is a bit of a painful read if you are at all sensitive to the thwarted desires of a dutiful and kind young girl. This book is almost entirely relating event after event of misfortunes on Molly, with almost no positive turns or explanation of the steps she takes to be strong enough to deal with them.<br/>It is all topped off by the fact that the book isn't even finished because the author died before the end.<br/>It could have been a great book, but I still liked it quite well despite all these issues."