I've read somewhere about the massive row that broke out when the book was published. Mrs Gaskell had gone abroad, Italy I think, to recover from literary exhaustion and came home to discover that in her absence her Minister husband had panicked and set in motion various corrections and apologies, which Mrs G disputed: she wanted to stand by what she had written. Jenny Uglow's biography has some of this but there is also a very perceptive novelisation, Mrs Gaskell and Me, by Nell Stevens.
I've read somewhere about the massive row that broke out when the book was published. Mrs Gaskell had gone abroad, Italy I think, to recover from literary exhaustion and came home to discover that in her absence her Minister husband had panicked and set in motion various corrections and apologies, which Mrs G disputed: she wanted to stand by what she had written. Jenny Uglow's biography has some of this but there is also a very perceptive novelisation, Mrs Gaskell and Me, by Nell Stevens.
Miller is quite good on that too. It was a libel suit that rattled everyone. I think she knew there’s be a ruckus which is why she went away...
I found the author on Substack, it's @nellstevens
Usefully provocative is just what I aim for! Arnold was pretty stiff. And overrated! You might enjoy Parallel Lives by Phyllis Rose https://commonreader.substack.com/p/parallel-lives-phyllis-rose
It’s really splendid