Ruth

Elizabeth Gaskell

• Publisher: Dancing Unicorn Books
• Year: 2023
• Topic: Literature
• eBook ISBN:
  9781515457237
• Subtopic: Classics
• Index: Literature

Ruth is a surprisingly compassionate portrayal of a fallen woman in Victorian times. Ruth Hilton is an young orphaned seamstress who is seduced and then abandoned by gentleman Henry Bellingham. Ruth, pregnant and alone, is taken in by a minister and his sister. They conceal her single status under the pretense of widowhood in order to protect her child from the social stigma of illegitimacy.

Table of contents

• Flyleaf
• The Dressmaker’s Apprentice at Work
• Ruth Goes to the Shire-Hall
• Sunday at Mrs Mason’s
• Treading in Perilous Places
• In North Wales
• Troubles Gather About Ruth
• The Crisis–Watching and Waiting
• Mrs Bellingham “Does the Thing Handsomely”
• The Storm-Spirit Subdued
• A Note and the Answer
• Thurstan and Faith Benson
• Losing Sight of the Welsh Mountains
• The Dissenting Minister’s Household
• Ruth’s First Sunday at Eccleston
• Mother and Child
• Sally Tells of Her Sweethearts, and Discourses on the Duties of Life
• Leonard’s Christening
• Ruth Becomes a Governess in Mr Bradshaw’s Family
• After Five Years
• Jemima Refuses to Be Managed
• Mr Farquhar’s Attentions Transferred
• The Liberal Candidate and His Precursor
• Recognition
• The Meeting on the Sands
• Jemima Makes a Discovery
• Mr Bradshaw’s Virtuous Indignation
• Preparing to Stand on the Truth
• An Understanding Between Lovers
• Sally Takes Her Money Out of the Bank
• The Forged Deed
• An Accident to the Dover Coach
• The Bradshaw Pew Again Occupied
• A Mother to Be Proud Of
• “I Must Go and Nurse Mr Bellingham”
• Out of Darkness into Light
• The End