Christmas is the most famous holiday of the year, and the word itself evokes images of Santa Claus, Christmas trees, lights, the baby Jesus, and, of course, presents. Instantly, well known Christmas carols ring in your ears, or maybe you even picture nutcrackers or Scrooge and Tiny Tim.
Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865) was a well known British novelist at one of the peak eras for female writers in England. A novelist and short story writer at the height of the Victorian Era, Gaskell’s novels weave a comprehensive, detailed image of the lives of all kinds of different classes in society during that age, ranging from the very poor to the cream of the aristocratic crop. Of course, given the era in which she wrote, Mrs. Gaskell’s writing included a wonderful style of prose that still continues to please literary critics, even while discussing the general themes of the day like religion and poverty.
Christmas is always the perfect time for holiday cheer, and reading classic Christmas stories like A Christmas Carol or Twas the Night before Christmas. This edition of Elizabeth Gaskell’s The Old Nurse’s Story is specially formatted with a Table of Contents and is illustrated with over a dozen Christmas-related pictures, including trees, the Nativity Scene, Santa Claus, historical depictions of the holiday, and more.
By Elizabeth Gaskell