Sylvia's Lovers

Elizabeth Gaskell''s only historical novel, Sylvia''s Lovers, is set in 1790 in the seaside town of Monkshaven (Whitby) where press-gangs wreak havoc by seizing young men for service in the Napoleonic wars. One of their victims is whaling harpooner, Charley Kinraid, whose charm and vivacity have captured the heart of Sylvia Robson. But Sylvia''s devoted cousin, Philip Hepburn, hopes to marry her h...