`Cranford` explores the dying way of life of the `Amazons` - unwarlike maiden ladies and widows of a certain age. They practise elegant economies; their days are passed in visits, cards and genteel gossip. But alongside the comedy is the pathos of restricted lives borne with courage. `Cranford` is one of Mrs Gaskell`s most successful novels, largely because it is such an affectionate portrait of the society she understood so well.