Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, (29 Sep 1810 – 12 Nov 1865), was a British novelist and short story writer of the Victorian era. Gaskell’s works are picturesque portraits of live of dwellers of various layers and levels of society, from the poorest to the richest. The most know work of her are Cranford (1853),North and South (1854), The Life of Charlotte Bronte (1867) and Wives and Daughters (1865).

Sylvia’s Lovers is a novel by Elizabeth Gaskell. The story follows Sylvia Robson, a young woman who lives happily with her parents on a farm. Her coisun Phillip, a rather dull quaker, is in deep love with her. But she doen’t love him back, because she is into a dashing sailor, Charlie Kinraid, whom she recently met. Unfortunately, Charlie was enlisted to the navy and had to leave. Caught between the devil and the blue sea, Sylvia’s heart is now torn between the on that love her and the one loved by her.