Elizabeth Gaskell

Elizabeth Gaskell was a pioneering Victorian novelist, biographer, and short story writer known for her keen social observation and compassionate portrayal of 19th-century life. Balancing realism with deep emotional insight, her works—such as North and South, Mary Barton, and Wives and Daughters—explore class conflict, gender roles, and the transformative effects of industrialisation. A friend of Charles Dickens and the biographer of Charlotte Brontë, Gaskell remains a vital voice in Victorian literature.