

'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...


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...



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...

"Sylvia's Lover's," by Elizabeth Gaskell, is a marvelous evocation of life in a rugged Yorkshire whaling town in the late 1700s. The English are at war with the French (again) and the vividly depicted harbor town bustles with whaling activity while the King's press gangs roam...


This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original...

In "Sylvia's Lovers," Elizabeth Gaskell weaves a poignant narrative set in the early 19th century, exploring the intersection of love, duty, and societal change. The novel's rich prose and evocative descriptions transport readers to the coastal town of Monk's Haven, where the...

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original...

The tragic tale of a young woman caught between the attractions of two very different men. England is at war with France, and press gangs are seizing young men for service. Charley Kinraid, a whaling harpooner who captured the heart of Sylvia Robson, was one of their victims...

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.

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.

The tragic tale of a young woman caught between the attractions of two very different men. England is at war with France, and press gangs are seizing young men for service. Charley Kinraid, a whaling harpooner who captured the heart of Sylvia Robson, was one of their victims...

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

A very powerfully moving novel of a young woman caught between the attractions of two very different men, Sylvia's Lovers is set in the 1790s in an English seaside town. England is at war with France, and press-gangs wreak havoc by seizing young men for service. One of their...

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

Set in a coastal English town during the early phases of the Napoleonic Wars in the 1790s, Sylvia's Lovers follows the complicated love life of a young woman. Sylvia Robson lives a very happy life with her parents on a farm. Her cousin, a kind but dull Quaker man named...



What she cared for far more were the comforts with which it was in her power to surround her mother.