Hand and Heart

Elizabeth Gaskell (1810–1865) belongs to the bright galaxy of celebrated English novelists and, alongside Charlotte Brontë, holds the most esteemed place among the "literary ladies" of the Victorian era, with her works recognized as masterpieces of world classics. Among them are the novels "Mary Barton," "Cranford," "North and South," "Wives and Daughters," and others. This collection presents the author's "minor prose," a compilation of stories written at different times in her life, through which images from the life of the "good old England" come to life. These are various stories – instructive, mystical, touching, and quirky – in which recurring themes and plots of Elizabeth Gaskell's work intertwine: the mysteries of the human heart and the enigmatic predestinations of fate that govern destiny; the eternal struggle between feeling and duty; the capacity to do good and evil, equally inherent in humans, and the responsibility for one's actions, alongside the inevitability of retribution; the power of love and faith in God that grants salvation and stands against fate. Most of the stories included in the collection are published in Russian for the first time.