Ruth Hilton is an orphaned young seamstress who catches the eye of a gentleman, Henry Bellingham, who is captivated by her simplicity and beauty.
Elizabeth Gaskell died suddenly in November 1865..
Her later works, Sylvia\'s Lovers (1863), Cousin Phillis (1864) and Wives and Daughters (1866) reveal that she was continuing to develop her writing in new literary directions.
She proved that she was not to be bullied, even by such a strong-willed man.
Dickens discovered her resilient strength of character when trying to impose his views on her as editor of Household Words .
Her output was substantial and completely professional.
Elizabeth Gaskell\'s position as a clergyman\'s wife and as a successful writer introduced her to a wide circle of friends, both from the professional world of Manchester and from the larger literary world.
After Charlotte\'s death in March 1855, Patrick Bront chose his daughter\'s friend and fellow-novelist to write The Life of Charlotte Bront (1857), a probing and sympathetic account, that has attained classic stature.
In 1850 she met and secured the friendship of Charlotte Bront .
Two years later she began writing for Dickens\'s magazine, Household Words , to which she contributed fiction for the next thirteen years, notably a further industrial novel, North and South (1855).
Mary Barton (1848) was her first success.
As well as leading a busy domestic life as minister\'s wife and mother of four daughters, she worked among the poor, traveled frequently and wrote.
In 1832 she married the Reverend William Gaskell, who became well known as the minister of the Unitarian Chapel in Manchester\'s Cross Street.
About the Author: Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell was born in London in 1810, but she spent her formative years in Cheshire, Stratford-upon-Avon and the north of England.
In writing Ruth , Elizabeth Gaskell daringly confronted prevailing views about sin and illegitimacy with her compassionate and honest portrait of a \'fallen woman\'.
When Henry enters her life again, however, Ruth must make the impossible choice between social acceptance and personal pride.
Nearly dead with grief and shame, Ruth is offered the chance of a new life among people who give her love and respect, even though they are at first unaware of her secret - an illegitimate child.
When she loses her job and home, he offers her comfort and shelter, only to cruelly desert her soon after.
Ruth Hilton is an orphaned young seamstress who catches the eye of a gentleman, Henry Bellingham, who is captivated by her simplicity and beauty
