Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
Wives and Daughters
"Wives and Daughters" by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell is a novel first published serially from 1864 to 1866. Young Molly Gibson's quiet life in a provincial English town transforms when her widowed father remarries, bringing a worldly stepmother and stepsister into their home. As Molly navigates new family dynamics and her friendship with the troubled Hamley family, she discovers hidden marriages, secret debts, and broken promises that threaten the happiness of those she holds dear.