Wives and Daughters is the last novel by Elizabeth Gaskell, due to her
untimely death in 1865. It was
published in 1866.
The novel is mainly of a societal nature that provides a narrative of the characters' lives during the ealy 19th-century England. Among them are the Hamleys, the Gibsons, Lord and Lady Cumnor, down to the spinsters, tenant farmers and labourers, well enough to register a lively, interesting as well as informative scenario of the time. Other lesser characters contribute a leavening humour to the plot.
At the centre of its various skillfully weaved plot is Molly Gibson's development from a confused insecure girl to a poised young woman. Her father is the local doctor of Hollingford who, after some years as a widower, surprised everybody by marrying a flighty and vulgar widow, Clare Kirkpatrick.
Molly is much beloved at Hamley Hall, home of Squire Hamley, an old-fashioned Tory landowner who has two sons, Roger and Osborne. Roger becomes a respected scientist. Unfortunately, Osborne dies soon after secretly marrying a French girl of lowly social status.
Cynthia is the daughter of Molly's new stepmother, Clare, by her first marriage. Molly helps Cynthia Kirkpatrick, extricate herself from an unwise marital commitment to Mr. Preston. Briefly, Cynthia was also engaged to Roger. Cynthia eventually marries Henderson, a London barrister.
Molly then secures Roger.
Wives and Daughters is a great novel which provides a psychological study of people and their lives as well as historical glimpse of England's social life during the early 19th-century.