A collection of comic sketches serialized in Charles Dickens's journal Household Words, these stories look to sympathetically portray changing small-town customs and values. [2] Harkening back to memories of her childhood in the small Cheshire town of Knutsford, Cranford is an attempt to portray an affectionate picture of a class and customs already becoming anachronisms. The book is narrated by Mary Smith, a woman who frequently visits the town and, when away, remains abreast of events through correspondence with the other characters.