Top 100 Classic Books Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell was an English novelist, biographer, and short story writer. Her novels offer a detailed portrait of the lives of many strata of Victorian society, including the very poor, and are of interest to social historians as well as lovers of literature. Some of Gaskell"s best known novels are Cranford, North and South and Wives and Daughters. Collected Tales II contains five stories, including The Manchester Marriage and The Cage at Cranford.