"We all love Miss Matty, and I somehow think we are all of us better when she is near us."

Every story has a love story, whether it be romantic or platonic. In this book, the love story is between the people of Cranford and Matilda Jenkyns. She is a good person at heart, always willing to help out other people and always kind, so everyone rallies around her to return the favour when she needs it. She is loved by others, and I do not ever think, as the book goes on, that she understands the depth of the love that they feel for her. And yet she loves so deeply and so fiercely without ever expecting anything in return, but she is given gifts far greater than she can ever know because of the love she gives to others.