Patricia Ingham Knihy

A revolutionary social and political commentary, North and South solidified Gaskell's place in the company of Victorian England's finest novelists.

'The Brontës' is a topical exploration of the novels of the three Brontë sisters in relation to the age in which they lived, and in modern contexts such as film and television. The book traces the origins of novels such as 'Jane Eyre' and 'Wuthering Heights' and examines the 20th century's remaking of the novels in film and TV.

Jude Fawley’s hopes of a university education are lost when he is trapped into marrying the earthy Arabella, who later abandons him. Moving to the town of Christminster where he finds work as a stonemason, Jude meets and falls in love with his cousin Sue Bridehead, a sensitive, freethinking ‘New Woman’. Refusing to marry merely for the sake of religious convention, Jude and Sue decide instead to live together, but they are shunned by society and poverty soon threatens to ruin them. Jude the Obscure, Hardy’s last novel, caused a public furore when it was first published, with its fearless and challenging exploration of class and sexual relationships.