"Cousin Phillis" is a novel by Elizabeth Gaskell

Elizabeth Gaskell

Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, née Stevenson , often referred to simply as Mrs Gaskell, was a British novelist and short story writer during the Victorian era...

. It was published in four parts, though a fifth and sixth part were planned. The story is about Paul Manning, a youth of seventeen who moves to the country and befriends his mother's family and his (second) cousin Phillis Holman, who is confused by her own placement at the edge of adolescence.

Most critics agree that Cousin Phillis is Gaskell's crowning achievement in the short novel. The story is uncomplicated; its virtues are in the manner of its development and telling. Cousin Phillis is also recognized as a fitting prelude for Gaskell's final and most widely acclaimed novel, Wives and Daughters: An Every-Day Story, which ran in Cornhill from August 1864 to January 1866.

Characters

• Paul Manning (the narrator, Phillis's cousin)
• Mr Manning (Paul's father)
• Mr Edward Holdsworth
• Mr Holman (independent church minister)
• Mrs Holman
• Miss Phillis Holman
• Mr Ellison (Mr Manning's business partner)
• Miss Lucille Ventadur (at last Mr Holdsworth's wife)
• Betty (the servant at Holman house)