Cranford

Prunella Scales reads the classic tale by Elizabeth Gaskell - complete and unabridged. 'It is very pleasant dining with a bachelor...I only hope it is not improper; so many pleasant things are!' A portrait of the residents of an English country town in the mid-nineteenth century, "Cranford" relates the adventures of Miss Matty and Miss Deborah, two middle-aged spinster sisters striving to live with dignity in reduced circumstances.

Through a series of vignettes, Elizabeth Gaskell portrays a community governed by old-fashioned habits and dominated by friendships between women.

Her wry account of rural life is undercut, however, by tragedy: with such troubling events as Matty's bankruptcy, the death of Captain Brown and the unwitting cruelty of Peter Jenkyns.

Written with acute observation, Cranford is by turns affectionate, moving and darkly satirical.

Cranford, a major BBC television series starring Judi Dench, is created from three novels by Elizabeth Gaskell.