This overlooked, prescient masterpiece from the author of North and South is a revolutionary and tenderhearted portrait of a "fallen woman"—now featuring a brilliant introduction by Rufi Thorpe

When good-natured yet headstrong orphan Ruth Hilton catches the eye of a society man—Henry Bellingham—she feels like her life is finally beginning. Leaving behind the dressmakers shop where she stitched her life away with the other girls, she allows Mr. Bellingham's love and attention nourish her soul. But when he realizes that taking up with a young, poor girl will inevitably destroy his reputation, he abandons her, leaving Ruth without comfort or shelter.

Having lost her housing, livelihood, and trust in others, Ruth is barely grasping on to her will to live when she is offered a new home by a pair of quirky siblings who are part of the Dissenting church. But will they, and the wider community, be so welcoming when they discover Ruth's secret—that she is pregnant with Mr. Bellingham's child?

An intricately woven exemplar of the Victorian "social" novel, Ruth deftly and bravely explores the dire circumstances of illegitimacy in the nineteenth century. Elizabeth Gaskell was far ahead of her time, and her encouragement of empathy in the face of stigma and shame is more important than ever.