“Round the Sofa” consists of seven short tales, of which the title story features different characters who relate the other six.

Three of these I’ve read elsewhere, so skipped over them here. A third one was a non-fiction account that didn’t appeal to me, thus I bypassed this one too.

I started three others, all of which I gave up on, as they didn’t hold my attention. They were more like extended rambles, featuring endless description, excessive words, and an overkill of punctuation.

The title story that serves as a framework was pleasant enough, so because of this and for those I’ve previously read, I rated this short story collection 3 stars rather than 2.

I tend to find Mrs Gaskell’s short stories and novellas somewhat hit and miss. Her novels appear to me as her greatest strength. ( )