The collection includes two novels by the famous English writer Elizabeth Gaskell: “Wives and Daughters” and “Mary Barton”. These books mark the beginning and end of the literary life of one of the most famous English writers of the 19th century. The novel “Wives and Daughters” was Gaskell’s last work. The nature of the novel is close to the works of Charlotte Bronte, with whom Gaskell was very friendly, and the subtle irony in the depiction of provincial snobbery and prejudice makes it similar to the tradition of Thackeray and Dickens. Gaskell’s first and, in the opinion of many, best novel “Mary Barton” was published in 1848. A dramatic, at times almost action-packed story of the love and moral maturation of the beautiful Mary Barton, Gaskell has secured a place of honor among the great novelists of the Victorian era.