Gothic Tales by Elizabeth Gaskell

[meganbmoore]

This is one of those times when a negative review is the final decision about whether or not to read something. Like this:

This is a man-hating collection of stories that demonizes men and promotes angry bitter women! Wow! THAT's original! It reads like a 'Lifetime' channel movie with a gothic backdrop! If that's what you're looking for then fine. If, however you want to read stories by someone who actually LIKES gothic fiction (as opposed to Gaskell, who has merely recently become interested in the genre as a new avenue to promote her misandry) I suggest you look elsewhere.

(BTW, of his other Amazon reviews I recognize, the glowing reviews are sausagefests and anything with a female lead is all about manhating.)

Actually, I probably would have eventually read it anyway, but isn’t that a thing of beauty?

This collection of Gaskell short stories is rather similar to the other short stories of Gaskell’s that I very recently read (even sharing three stories with it) but has Gaskell turning her attention to darker themes, often with supernatural elements. The stories included here are Disappearances, The Old Nurse’s Story, The Squire’s Story, The Poor Clare, The Doom of the Griffiths, Lois the Witch, The Crooked Branch, Curious if True, and The Grey Woman. Like the other short works I read, Gaskell is concerned with women’s roles in society, their relationships with and treatment at the hands of men, both good as bad. Only with curses, evil doppelgangers, ghosts, missing people and such. I still find Gaskell’s prose slow and even dull at times, but like her characters and themes enough to get past that.