Joyfully Retired

Throughout my life, when I’ve had an option, I’ve read primarily contemporary novels. Of course, now that I’ve lived so long, some of those novels are now considered classics. But I have a desire to go back and read some of the “real classics” that I missed out on. When The Classics Circuit was formed a month or so ago, I decided that following along and joining in from time to time would be a good solution for me.

Cranford is the story of life in a small village in England in the 1850′s. It’s an unusual book in that it does not follow the traditional plot line of “young, single woman meets young, single man,” etc. The entire story is centered around the lives of middle-aged and older spinsters and widows.

The village appears to be dominated by the women, with an occasional male character thrown in for interest. It’s not a story about power struggles but the women do have all sorts of norms and rules in this insulated community. For example, a woman must call on another woman between certain afternoon hours and stay for only fifteen minutes. The women must be careful what topics are discussed and what clothes are worn. Most everyone would fall into the genteel but impoverished category but they must keep up appearances. They will do without new clothes for years and eat very frugally in order to afford at least one servant. They all pride themselves on their thriftiness but consider it quite vulgar to discuss money.

The other unusual aspect of the story is that there is very little plot. It’s all about the people in the village. The narrator is a frequent visitor to the village and she simply tells us what she has heard from others and also what she has observed and experienced. She is very fond of Miss Matty and Miss Pole and tells us quite a bit about them. I also found the village of Cranford itself to be a character in itself.

I don’t want you to think this is a dull tale of village life in the nineteenth century. It’s far from that. It’s actually very humorous. The author’s writing had me smiling and sometimes laughing through most of the book. There are also other tales that brought a tear or two to my eye. I found the people very heartwarming.

There is a made for TV movie version of Cranford. It’s actually a BBC mini-series available on dvd. It’s very good. I saw it long before I read the book. The only caution is that it is based on some of the characters in Cranford but does not tightly follow the book version. The movie still carries the humor and sweetness of the book. I’m glad I saw the movie first because it gave me a personal image of characters as I read the book. I definitely saw Judy Dench as I read about Miss Matty.

I’m so glad I joined the Classics Circuit and read this book. I find it very refreshing to read about the classics on a wide variety of blogs. It’s just as good, if not better, than reading about the latest book releases from book tour companies. I encourage you to check out the Classics Circuit, visit some of the other sites on the Elizabeth Gaskell tour, and perhaps sign up yourself to be a future tour host.

Source: Public Library and then I purchased a copy for my own library.