Cranford
In a quiet English country town, a circle of aging women keeps up appearances with fierce dedication, guarding old customs even as the wider world starts to intrude. Elizabeth Gaskell tells their story in loosely linked episodes, narrated by a younger visitor named Mary Smith, who watches with affection and gentle amusement. Small events fill the pages: a card party, a lost fortune, a brother long thought dead who suddenly returns. Beneath the comedy runs real feeling about friendship, kindness, and the dignity of women getting by on very little. First serialized in Dickens’s magazine Household Words, it remains Gaskell’s most beloved book. This free PDF and EPUB edition offers the complete novel.
About the Author
Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865) was an English novelist whose work ranged from the industrial social novel to tender provincial comedy. Admired by Dickens, she wrote Cranford, North and South, and the first major biography of Charlotte Brontë.
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Listen to Cranford Audiobook Free
Listen to Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell free online. The full audiobook (6 hr 7 min, 16 chapters, read by Sibella Denton) streams free on this page.
Cranford (1851) is a public domain work.
| # | Chapter | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Our Society | 21:52 | |
| 2 | The Captain | 29:29 | |
| 3 | A Love Affair of Long Ago | 17:47 | |
| 4 | A Visit to an Old Bachelor | 21:34 | |
| 5 | Old Letters | 22:11 | |
| 6 | Poor Peter | 23:42 | |
| 7 | Visiting | 20:44 | |
| 8 | "Your Ladyship" | 25:34 | |
| 9 | Signor Brunoni | 19:30 | |
| 10 | The Panic | 27:36 | |
| 11 | Samuel Brown | 22:32 | |
| 12 | Engaged to be Married | 16:22 | |
| 13 | Stopped Payment | 22:02 | |
| 14 | Friends in Need | 35:05 | |
| 15 | A Happy Return | 25:04 | |
| 16 | Peace to Cranford | 15:36 |
Prefer reading? Read Cranford online free or download the PDF and EPUB above.
