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Manchester 1849. Elizabeth Gaskell, newly famous author of
Mary Barton, visits a young Irish prostitute in Manchester's New Bailey prison. The girl is about to be discharged onto the Manchester streets, where her old life of poverty and violence await her. Elizabeth is determined to help her, but few people will employ an ex-prostitute from prison. In desperation, Elizabeth writes to Charles Dickens for advice.
Based on the real correspondence between Elizabeth Gaskell and Charles Dickens,
Elizabeth and Ruth tells a story of hypocrisy and suppression, and how Elizabeth navigates the censorship and prejudice of the day to help the young girl and to write the novel about her that will ultimately be banned and burned after publication.
Info autore
Livi Michael is an award-winning writer of books for adults, young adults and children. Her short stories have been widely published in various places including
Granta,
The Lonely Crowd and the
Manchester Review. Her play,
Singers Not Sinners was performed in Oldham in 2022. She has taught creative writing in various universities and was Programme Leader of the MA in Publishing at Manchester Metropolitan University.
Riassunto
Based on a correspondence between Elizabeth Gaskell and Charles Dickens, Elizabeth and Ruth tells the story of Elizabeth Gaskell’s relationship with a young prostitute in Manchester’s New Bailey prison, and how this relationship helped to define her as a writer.
