SOURCE: "A Mixed Bag—Short Stories," in Elizabeth Gaskell, Berg Publishers, 1986, pp. 80-8.

In the following essay, Brodetsky surveys Gaskell's work as a writer of short stories and novellas.

An honest tale speeds best being plainly told.

Shakespeare: Richard II

During the whole period of her literary output, Elizabeth Gaskell was publishing short stories and novellas, from "The Three Eras of Libbie Marsh" in 1847 to Cousin Phillis, finished in 1864. That she had skill in telling a gripping tale is obvious from the fact that she never had difficulty in getting her stories published; indeed, they were often commissioned, particularly by Dickens, who usually paid generously for them.

These stories present some practical difficulties for the modern reader. In the first place, there are problems in getting hold of some of them, as there is no readily available complete edition. Secondly, in many cases they are much longer than...