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'He's spoilt my life, - he's spoilt it for as long as iver I live on this earth'

The compelling story of an ordinary girl's tragic passion for a man who disappears, Sylvia's Lovers (1863) is Elizabeth Gaskell's last completed novel. Set in a fictional... Read Full Overview

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... Read Full Overview

Odin's Library Classics is dedicated to bringing the world the best of humankind's literature from throughout the ages. Carefully selected, each work is unabridged from classic works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, or drama.

On the north-eastern shores of England there is a town called Monkshaven, containing at the present day about fifteen thousand inhabitants. There were, however, but half the number at the end of the last century, and it was at that period that the events narrated in the following... Read Full Overview

Sylvia's Lovers is a Victorian romance novel described by the author as "the saddest story I ever wrote". The story begins in the 1790s in the fictional coastal town of Monkshaven against the background of the practice of impressments during the early phases of the Napoleonic... Read Full Overview

Sylvia's Lovers (1863) is a novel written by Elizabeth Gaskell, which she called "the saddest story I ever wrote".

Sylvia's Lovers (1863) is a novel written by Elizabeth Gaskell, which she called "the saddest story I ever wrote".

The novel begins in the 1790s in the coastal town of Monkshaven (modeled on Whitby, England) against the background of the practice of impressment during the early phases of the Napoleonic Wars.

Elizabeth Gaskell was a popular novelist during her time, known for crafting books that show clearly the class divide. In this novel, Sylvia is loved by her boring cousin Phillip. She is swept off her feet by a dashing sailor. Phillip holds the key to her future happiness....and... Read Full Overview