Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell (1810-1865) was a English novelist and short story writer during the Victorian era. Her novels offer a detailed portrait of the lives of many strata of society, including the very poor, and are of interest to social historians as well as lovers of literature. Gaskell was also the first to write a biography of Charlotte Bronte, The Life of Charlotte Bronte, which was published in 1857. Her works include the novels Mary Barton (1848), Cranford (1851-53), Ruth (1853), North and South (1854-55), Sylvia’s Lovers (1863) and Wives and Daughters: An Everyday Story (1865).