Tonight, we’ll read the opening to “Cranford”, a novel by the English writer Elizabeth Gaskell, first published in 1853. The work slowly became popular and from the start of the 20th century it saw a number of dramatic treatments for the stage, the radio and TV.

The fictional town of “Cranford” is based on the author’s childhood home town of Knutsford in England. The stories within portray the old-fashioned class snobbery prevalent in country towns at the time. Charles Dickens encouraged Gaskell to turn her stories into the completed novel.

If you enjoy this episode, be sure to listen to our August 2021 episode “North and South” from the same author.

— read by V —

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