Elizabeth Gaskell 
My Lady Ludlow (Annotated) 

• This edition includes the following editor’s introduction: Why should Elizabeth Gaskell be considered a reference in English literature?

Originally published in 1858, “My Lady Ludlow” is a delightful novel by Elizabeth Gaskell.



“My Lady Ludlow” chronicles the daily life of the widowed Countess of Ludlow of Hanbury. Lady Ludlow is absolute mistress of Hanbury Court and a resolute opponent of anything that might disturb the class system into which she was born. She will keep no servant who can read and write and insists that the lower orders have no rights, but only duties. But the winds of change are blowing through the village of Hanbury. The vicar, Mr. Gray, wishes to start a Sunday school for religious reasons; Mr. Horner wants to educate the citizens for economic reasons. But Lady Ludlow is not as rigid as one may think.