Cranford

I  began reading Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell before I started Anna of Byzantium. I happen to also not be finished with it yet. This is the only Gaskell book that I have read, but I have liked both the miniseries based on her works. However, I prefer Jane Austen as an author.
Cranford is entertaining as is it about the lives of a bunch of old ladies in a small town in Enlgand, who are dealing with the modernization of the rural communities at that time (mid to late 19th century). Although it is comical (with the old ladies having some rather funny adventures dealing with everyday life in Cranford), it does have some sobering moments as there seems to be a death or some other form of drama every other chapter, one in particular having made me tear up.
The book's chapters are actually just short stories about life in Cranford told by an outsider who visits the main characters often. My next Gaskell shall be Wives and Daughters, as I have always wanted to read that particular novel.