Gothic Tales

By: Elizabeth Gaskell, Laura Kranzler - introduction

Narrated by: Olivia Forrest

Brought to you by Penguin.

This Penguin Classic is performed by Olivia Forrest. This definitive recording includes an introduction by Laura Keanzler.

Elizabeth Gaskell's chilling Gothic tales blend the real and the supernatural to eerie, compelling effect. 'Disappearances', inspired by local legends of mysterious vanishings, mixes gossip and fact; 'Lois the Witch', a novella based on an account of the Salem witch hunts, shows how sexual desire and jealousy lead to hysteria; while in 'The Old Nurse's Story' a mysterious child roams the freezing Northumberland moors. Whether darkly surreal, such as 'The Poor Clare', where an evil doppelgänger is formed by a woman's bitter curse, or mischievous like 'Curious, if True', a playful reworking of fairy tales, all the stories in this volume form a stark contrast to the social realism of Gaskell's novels, revealing a darker and more unsettling style of writing.

© Laura Kranzler 2000 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

Ups and Downs

A collection of short stories is always likely to have some that are better than others and this is definitely true here. Though Lois the Witch is often mentioned when referring to Gaskell's short stories (at least I've found) It was one of my least favorite. This and the Poor Clare were down right boring, which is astonishing to say considering the latter has the murder of a poor innocent dog.

My favorite stories were The Old Nurse's Story and The Grey Woman.

The performance was good and though I found some accents a little annoying to listen to this was definitely not the fault of the narrator.