Elizabeth Gaskell was born in London in 1810. She was a writer of detailed letters from a young age, and moved in literary circles. Born into a Unitarian family, she married a Unitarian minister in 1832, and the Unitarian values can be seen throughout her novels. Like most Victorians, her life had its griefs. She lost two children, and wrote Mary Barton in an effort to cope with the death of her only son, William. After the publication of Mary Barton, Elizabeth Gaskell went on to write numerous other novels, novellas, short stories, and non-fiction including North and South, Cranford, and the Life of Charlotte Brontë..
