Book #74: Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell

I don't know where I was for the majority of my life, because I'd never heard of Elizabeth Gaskell before last year. Tommy's sister Lindsay recommended Wives and Daughters and North and South (another Gaskell novel) to me and I read them last year and loved them. And just recently, Tommy and I found the miniseries on Netflix Instant Streaming and watched them both--and they were awesome! So awesome that it made me want to re-read at least this book, which I'd conveniently recently found at a used bookstore on my birthday (one of Tommy's bday presents to me). Even though this book is over 600 pages long, it's such a page-turner for me. I finished it in just a few days because I was so into it. The original novel had a subtitle of "An Every-day Story," which is just perfect as a description for the plot. There's nothing too fantastic or dramatic or climactic about this book--but there are such excellent characters and such realistic situations that you can't help wanting to see what's coming.

The most TERRIBLE thing about this book is that Gaskell actually died before she finished the book! At most, there are maybe one or two chapters left before all the loose ends would have been tied off, and Molly and Roger would have been happily married and everything would be made right in the world. As it is, the novel ends on a very abrupt note, which leaves you depressed and feeling gypped. It's SUCH a great book, though--and it's made me want to go back and re-read all of the Jane Austen books (I've already started Persuasion). So excited!