Elizabeth Gaskell's only historical novel, Sylvia's Lovers, is set in 1790 in the seaside town of Monkshaven (Whitby) where press-gangs wreak havoc by seizing young men for service in the Napoleonic wars. One of their victims is whaling harpooner, Charley Kinraid, whose charm and vivacity have captured the heart of Sylvia Robson. But Sylvia's devoted cousin, Philip Hepburn, hopes to marry her himself and, in order to win her, deliberately withholds crucial information - with devastating consequences. With its themes of suffering, unrequited love, and the clash between desire and duty, Sylvia's Lovers is one of the most powerfully moving of all Gaskell's novels, reputedly described by its author as 'the saddest story I ever wrote'.

About the Author

Elizabeth Gaskell wrote much social and realist fiction during the nineteenth century, having attracted the attention of Dickens when she wrote for his journal Household Works


Shirley Foster is a Senior Lecturer in English and American Literature at the University of Sheffield. She has published widely, notably on Victorian women's fiction, Edith Wharton and female travel literature.


Shirley Foster is a Senior Lecturer in English and American Literature at the University of Sheffield. She has published widely, notably on Victorian women's fiction, Edith Wharton and female travel literature.

Book Information
ISBN 9780140434224
Author Elizabeth Gaskell
Format Paperback
Page Count 528
Imprint Penguin Classics
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 354g
Dimensions(mm) 197mm * 128mm * 20mm