What a charming little book! I very much enjoyed it.

I picked it up because I heard marvelous things about the BBC series and I’m so glad I did. The collection of stories that make up the novel are just delightful. They focus on the happenings of the widows and spinsters who make up the society of Cranford as told by a young woman who occasionally visits the small town. The women pass their time playing cards, calling on each other, and obsessing over their good breeding. They also are frequently preoccupied by caps and other types of head coverings. Like I said, just delightful and absolutely charming.

I read the Penguin Classics clothe-bound edition and the supplemental materials are excellent. I especially liked the appendix that detailed the fashions of Cranford.