The book includes two of the most famous novels of the English writer of the Victorian era, Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865). In the novel "Cranford," the translation of which is taken from issues 7-9 of the journal "Domestic Notes" for 1855, the life of a fictional English town is described. In the novel "North and South," the translation of which is taken from issues 5-6 of the journal "Russian Herald" for 1856, dynamic life in the north of England is opposed to its measured flow in the south of the country. The publication is decorated with drawings by George du Maurier (1834-1896) and Hugh Thomson (1860-1920).