Thinking has, many a time, made me sad, darling; but doing never did in all my life....My precept is, do something, my sister, do good if you can; but at any rate, do something.

Her novels offer a detailed portrait of the lives of many strata of society including the very poor and are of interest to social historians as well as lovers of literature. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell née Stevenson (29 September 1810 – 12 November 1865) often referred to simply as Mrs Gaskell was a British novelist and short story writer during the Victorian era.