Curious if True

Fox Editing Classics presents this newlly edited and designed publication of Elizabeth Gaskell's short story collection.

Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell (1810-1865), while better known for her 1857 biography of Charlotte Brontë and her still-popular novels, such as Cranford (1851-1853) and Wives and Daughters (1864-1866), her literary works also included several Gothic ghost stories. Curious, if True, originally published in 1861, collects five of these "strange tales":

"The Old Nurse's Story" was written in 1852.

"The Poor Clare" was first published in Charles Dickens' periodical Household Words in three parts in 1856.

"Lois the Witch" was first published in Charles Dickens' magazine All the Year Round in three parts in October 1859.

"The Grey Woman" was published in the short story collection Lois the Witch and Other Tales in 1861.

"Curious, if True" was written in 1860 and first published as the title story of this collection in 1861.