The Channings - Mrs Henry Wood

Title: The Channings
Author: Mrs Henry Wood
Publisher: P. R. Gawthorn Ltd.
Series: The Russell Classics
Format: Hardcover
Edition: Vintage library edition

Condition: Fair vintage condition. Ex-library copy from the South Melbourne Technical School Library with library stamps, spine label remnants, edge wear, rubbing, scuffing, and noticeable wear to boards and spine. Some cracking and ageing present, though the text remains readable and the binding is still intact. A solid atmospheric reading or decorative shelf copy.

The Channings is a classic Victorian family and school novel filled with moral conflict, social tension, ambition, scandal, and domestic drama. Originally published in the nineteenth century, the novel follows the fortunes and misfortunes of the Channing family, weaving together themes of class, reputation, education, and personal honour in the distinctly serialized style of Victorian fiction.

Like much of Mrs Henry Wood’s work, the novel blends melodrama with sharp observation of middle-class English life, creating stories driven by secrecy, misunderstandings, and emotional consequence. It reflects the tastes of Victorian popular fiction while also offering a glimpse into the moral anxieties and social expectations of the era.