}Ruth{ (1953) was the first mainstream novel to make a fallen woman its eponymous heroine; shocking to contemporary readers, its radical utopian vision of 'a pure woman faithfully presented' predates Hardy's }Tess of the d'Urbervilles{ by nearly 40 years Gaskell's depiction of a fallen woman as her heroine shocked contemporary readers. Ruth is seduced and heartlessly abandoned but finds shelter and love with her illegitimate child until a twist of fate brings her past back to haunt her. This new edition explores the novel's radicalism and cultural influence.
