"Four short stories" by Elizabeth Gaskell (Pandora Press, 1983)

In the introduction by Anna Walters it says "Elizabeth Gaskell was far from being a typical mid-nineteenth-century woman". Her stories were promoted by Charles Dickens. Yes, woman take a leading role, and they're often poor and plain, but the morality's uncomplicated, almost like in a fable.

• The Three Eras of Libbie Marsh - Libbie moves to stay with the Dixons. "Libbie was very plain". Across the street she sees a crippled boy at a window. His single mother has a reputation for being bad tempered. Libbie buys him a caged canary. For a day out Libbie, the mother and the boy take a canal boat from Manchester to Dunham. He needs carrying. He takes the bird with him. Much of Manchester's working class is there. People are happy and helpful. The mother is happy, and people who know them see this, changing their opinion about the mother. A few weeks later the boy dies. Straight after the funeral one of the Dixon girls asks if next day Libbie could be her bridesmaid. She turns down the invitation. The girl's disappointed - she's already delayed the wedding by a day. We learn that Libbie's father was a drinker who killed her baby brother when under the influence. She moves in with the dead boy's mother.
• Lizzie Leigh - Lizzie was told to leave the farmyard by her father, so she could get more experience of life. But soon her father said she was a disgrace to the family and severed contact. When he died, the mother decides to spend a year in Manchester, looking for her. She takes son Will who meets a quiet girl, Susan, who looks after a toddler niece. Will wants to marry her but fears that if she finds out about his disgraced sister she'll reject him. The mother tracks Susan down to explain the situation, and recognising the niece's clothes realises that the niece is her grand-daughter. The baby falls. When Susan gets a doctor she's followed by the lost daughter. The toddler dies. Will marries Susan.
• The Well of Pen-Morfa - After slipping by the well where she'd first met her fiance, beautiful Nest (engaged to an eligible bachelor) is bedridden and delerious for months. The fiance learns that she'll be crippled at best and plans to end the relationship. Her mother pleads with him not to give Nest the bad news until she's strong enough to cope. The mother dies. Nest feels guilty that she didn't thank her. An old wise priest helps her see the light. She takes in a half-wit woman - the priest interprets this as a penance. When she's 50 she goes with the half-wit to the well and dies.
• The Manchester Marriage - The Openshaws move from Manchester to London because Mr Openshaw's been promoted. He's a bright, independent, well-meaning self-made man. His wife has been married before to a cousin who was lost at sea. The sailor never knew he'd had a daughter, deformed. Nancy was the wife's housemaid in Manchester, and moves to London with them. While the Openshaws are out, a man visits. After, a brooch has gone missing. Pro-active Mr Openshaw wants to know what's happened. Nancy is evasive (because the visitor is Mrs Openshaw's first husband). Mr Openshaw suspects that old Nancy, desperate for a husband has let a low-life suitor in. Offended, Nancy leaves. The brooch is found (it had been mislaid). The first husband's body is found in the Thames. Mr Openshaw finds Nancy and pleads with her to return.