Cranford

"In the first place, Cranford is in possession of the Amazons; all the holders of houses above a certain rent are women." This is how our guide and narrator, Mary Smith, introduces us to the small English country town of Cranford. Young, modern Mary gives us her Austen-like view of small-town customs, Victorian values, decorum, and etiquette. Mary gives us a charming, sometimes gently mocking comedy of manners. The book is full of character and of characters - the most unforgettable being Miss Matty, the sweet, timid younger daughter of the old rector, a middle-aged spinster in reduced circumstances after a life lived in the shadow of her indomitable, clever sister, Deborah. There are men, too - despite the opening lines: Mr. Holbrook, long ago rejected by Miss Matty's family as an unsuitable suitor (comparison with Jane Austen's Persuasion is irresistible); and Peter, Matty's brother, thrashed by their rector father for an unsuitable jape, who ran away to sea and died in India. Or did