Wives and Daughters: An Everyday Story was Elizabeth Gaskell's last book. It remained unfinished with her sudden death in 1865 while it was being serialized in the Cornhill magazine. The book was completed by journalist, Frederick Greenwood and the final section was published in 1866.

Elizabeth Gaskell, or Mrs. Gaskell as she was better known, was a friend and biographer of Charlotte Bronte. She was also well known in her own right as a writer during the Victorian era. Her works offer deep insights into many strata of society of that time. As a child she suffered great privation and insecurity after her mother died and she was sent to live with various relatives, though her father and brothers kept in contact with her and encouraged her to study and write. She married a Unitarian minister and traveled extensively with him. It was during the course of her travels that she began keeping a journal and discovered her talent for writing. Her social circle included such greats as Charles Dickens, Harriet Beecher Stowe and John Ruskin.

Wives and Daughters is set in the pre-Reform Bill era of the 1830s, a piece of legislation that allowed people from more than just the upper echelons of society to have voting privileges. The character of Molly Gibson, who evolves from an impulsive and unthinking young girl into a strong and independent woman proves to be capable of making the right decisions without compromising her own sense of ethics. She also becomes a tower of strength to those around her. Wives and Daughters is a very interesting and powerful read that combines romance, memorable characters and great insights into social structure more than a hundred years ago.