Two men love the Mary Barton: one she has known her entire life in her poor neighborhood, while the other is from a wealthy family. What should she do? Set during the industrial upheaval in England, Mary Barton's life does anything but go according to plan as Gaskell takes readers on a journey through love, loss, social restriction, death, murder, and redemption. Great cast of characters that come together to create a well written and moving story--the beautiful Mary, faithful Margret, devoted Jem, simple Job, doting John, and meddling Esther, to name a few. If you are a fan of Jane Austen or...

"A House to Let" is a short story by Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Elizabeth Gaskell and Adelaide Anne Procter. It was originally published in 1858 in the Christmas edition of Dickens' Household Words magazine. Each of the contributors wrote a chapter and the story was edited by Dickens. "A House to Let" was the first collaboration between the four writers, although Collins and Dickens had worked with Procter on previous Christmas stories for the magazine in 1854, 1855, and 1856. In a letter to Collins from 6 September 1858, Dickens outlined his idea for a Christmas story. He originally...