Wives and Daughters

I just finished reading Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell.

And it was sooo good!!!!

I'm the kind of girl who loves old fashioned romances (you couldn't tell that from my blog, could you? :) and this was no exception. I loved how sweet and flower-like it was. It was just so good! I loved how old-fashioned it was. Of course, it was published in 1864, so of course it's old fashioned, but Elizabeth Gaskell wrote it to be set even earlier than that; she kept saying, "in those days" and such things. It was so quaint and sweet.

I'm not even sure how to begin reviewing this lovely book, so I guess I'll start with my favourite parts (In no particular order):
(Oh, and the movie actually did a wonderful job casting the characters, so I shall use pictures from it.)

• I love how the Hamleys, especially Mrs. Hamley, take such a like to dear Molly. I feel like she deserves the best of everything, including the best people to love her, and so I love that they love her.

• When Roger finds Molly crying and gives her that talk--Ahhh!!! I just loved Roger at that moment for Molly's sake. And then after that when he kind of took it upon himself to be her mentor, or guide, or whatever, I just loved that. And I loved how Molly appreciated it so and I loved how Roger found himself thinking about her and her problems so much. The whole thing with them was just lovely. 

And, thankfully, they did an excellent job with this scene in the movie. 

• I like how Lady Harriet likes Molly and ends up helping her so much. I don't know what Molly would have done without her. 

• The ending that Elizabeth Gaskell would have written was wonderful. The edition I read left off where she stopped, but it told everything she had said she would have written, so I knew how she would have ended it. And I loved it. Unfortunately, they didn't do the right ending in the movie, but that's okay. That's what imaginations are for, right?
• I'm so glad Cynthia ended up being a friend to Molly. I was so afraid Molly's expectations would be disappointed and she would be too much like her mother, but I was glad when that wasn't the case. Of course, I don't like everything she did and put Molly through, but I'm glad they loved each other as real sisters. 

• I quite enjoyed the scene where Molly gives Roger the rose--after he gave her the boquet! It was sooooo sweet! Dear Molly! Dear Roger!

Now for the thing I didn't like--and yes, there's one:

• Osborne. I did not like Osborne Hamley. At all. (By the bye, he was also the only character that was cast very, very wrongly in the movie. Tall? Deep blue eyes? Nope. The fake Mr. Collins it is.) I can't exactly tell why I didn't like him, but I can think of a couple reasons. For one, he was, obviously, too full of himself. He was selfish. He didn't know much about restraint or reason. Now, this wasn't entirely his fault, as he had been raised to be a spoiled eldest son, but still--he was. Another reason was that he was careless. He didn't really think about things. He didn't think it through when he was married. He didn't think about it before he started spending time with the Gibsons. He didn't think about the fact that he knew he was married did not keep others from suspecting him of courting. I didn't like him. 

Of course there are some other little things I didn't like, but that was the major one. 

Anyway, it was such a wonderful book! I definitely recommend it to anyone who loves L. M. Montgomery, Jane Austen, or Louisa May Alcott, or even anyone who doesn't! (Okay, maybe not. If you don't like at least one of those authours, then don't take book recommendations from me.)

Have you read Wives and Daughters? What did you think?