

# Event Details

- **Event Name**: "Ruth": from Fact to Fiction by Livi Michael
- **Event Start and End Date**: Wed, 14 Jan, 2026 at 01:00 pm – Wed, 14 Jan, 2026 at 02:30 pm
- **Event Description**: Elizabeth Gaskell’s “Ruth”: from lived experience to fiction, the novel she found hardest to write and which was banned and burned.About this EventRuth from Fact to FictionManchester 1849. Elizabeth Gaskell, newly famous author of Mary Barton, visits a young prostitute in Manchester’s New Bailey Pr*son. The girl, known to us only as Pasley, had been abandoned in an orphanage in Dublin as a young child, apprenticed out in Manchester, raped at the age of fourteen, and had ended up on the streets. Elizabeth tried to help her, but few people in Victorian England would employ an ex-prostitute from Pr*son. In desperation, Elizabeth wrote to Charles Dickens for help.My novel, Elizabeth and Ruth is based on the correspondence between Elizabeth Gaskell and Charles Dickens about this young girl. It tells her story, and the story of Elizabeth’s novel Ruth, which was based on Pasley’s story. According to her letters, it was the most difficult story Elizabeth ever wrote. It was banned and burned on publication.Yet it differs significantly from Pasley’s story and this lecture will investigate those differences, considering why Ruth, which was so controversial at the time, seems less so now. I will be looking particularly at the setting, the language and the gender politics of the novel, paying tribute to the fact that it is the first novel in English to feature a ‘fallen woman’ as heroine, while acknowledging all the things Elizabeth Gaskell was unable to say."Date: 14 January 2026Day: Wednesday, 1.00 pmVenue: Manchester Central LibrarySpeaker: Livi MichaelCost: members - free of chargeCost: non-members - £5Livi Michael has written novels for adults, young adults and children. Her twentieth novel, Reservoir, was published in March 2023 by Salt, and her 21st novel, Elizabeth and Ruth will be published by Salt in 2026. Her short stories have been published in various places including Granta, The Lonely Crowd and the Manchester Review, and have been long listed for the BBC National Short Story Award. Her play, Singers Not Sinners about the first three women who were allowed to sing in a choir ( Oldham 1701 was performed in Oldham in 2022.She has taught creative writing in various universities and for the Arvon foundation and was Programme Leader of the MA in Publishing at Manchester Metropolitan University. She currently runs a podcast about short stories with the writer and translator Sonya Moor.
- **Event URL**: https://allevents.in/manchester/ruth-from-fact-to-fiction-by-livi-michael/100001979680043301
- **Event Categories**: music, art, literary-art, entertainment
- **Interested Audience**: 
  - total_interested_count: 0

## Ticket Details

- **Ticket URL**: https://consumer.pxf.io/c/1339408/3151484/39691?partnerpropertyid=1191892&MediaPartnerPropertyId=1191892&svlink=14105511&level=1&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eventbrite.com%2Fe%2Fruth-from-fact-to-fiction-by-livi-michael-tickets-1979680043301
- **Ticket Price Range**: min: 0, max: 5, currency: GBP

## Event venue details

- **city**: Manchester
- **state**: EN
- **country**: United Kingdom
- **location**: Manchester Central LIbrary
- **lat**: 53.47763699999999
- **long**: -2.2435327000000598
- **full address**: Manchester Central LIbrary, St Peter's Square, Manchester, United Kingdom

## Event Organizer details

- **affiliate_id**: 10
- **organizer**: Manchester & Lancashire FHS (https://allevents.in/org/manchester-and-lancashire-fhs/22810177)

## Event gallery

- **Alt text**: banner
  - **Image URL**: https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events9/banners/99abd9fc6297700dd7d152a89b4f789743ee922886b685dbe9395d26cc07b353-rimg-w1200-h600-dcffffff-gmir.jpg?v=1767710025
- **Alt text**: thumbnail
  - **Image URL**: https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events9/banners/558dc9947a7669b5bc9acf375cce078b6888817f618962b8075e8e3d41b09d9e-rimg-w400-h400-dcffffff-gmir.jpg?v=1767710025

## FAQs

- **Q**: When is the event happening?
  - **A:** Wed, 14 Jan, 2026 at 01:00 pm
- **Q**: Where is the event happening?
  - **A:** Manchester Central LIbrary, St Peter's Square, Manchester, United Kingdom
- **Q**: What is the ticket price?
  - **A:** starting from 0 up to 5 GBP
- **Q**: Who is organizing the event?
  - **A:** Manchester & Lancashire FHS
- **Q**: What type of event is this?
  - **A:** music, art, literary-art, entertainment
- **Q**: Where can I find ticket details about "Ruth": from Fact to Fiction by Livi Michael ?
  - **A:** You can find ticket details about this event on AllEvents.

## Structured Data (JSON-LD)

```json
[
    {
        "@context": "https://schema.org",
        "@type": "Event",
        "name": "&quot;Ruth&quot;: from Fact to Fiction by Livi Michael",
        "image": "https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events9/banners/99abd9fc6297700dd7d152a89b4f789743ee922886b685dbe9395d26cc07b353-rimg-w1200-h600-dcffffff-gmir.jpg?v=1767710025",
        "startDate": "2026-01-14",
        "endDate": "2026-01-14",
        "url": "https://allevents.in/manchester/ruth-from-fact-to-fiction-by-livi-michael/100001979680043301",
        "location": {
            "@type": "Place",
            "name": "Manchester Central LIbrary",
            "address": {
                "@type": "PostalAddress",
                "streetAddress": "St Peter's Square",
                "postalCode": "M2 5PD",
                "addressLocality": "Manchester",
                "addressRegion": "EN",
                "addressCountry": "GB"
            },
            "geo": {
                "@type": "GeoCoordinates",
                "latitude": "53.47763699999999",
                "longitude": "-2.2435327000000598"
            }
        },
        "eventAttendanceMode": "https://schema.org/OfflineEventAttendanceMode",
        "description": "Elizabeth Gaskell’s “Ruth”: from lived experience to fiction, the novel she found hardest to write and which was banned and burned.",
        "offers": [
            {
                "@type": "AggregateOffer",
                "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock",
                "priceCurrency": "GBP",
                "availabilityStarts": "2026-03-27",
                "availabilityEnds": "2026-01-14",
                "validFrom": "2026-03-27",
                "lowPrice": "0.00",
                "highPrice": "5.00",
                "price": "0.00",
                "url": "https://allevents.in/manchester/ruth-from-fact-to-fiction-by-livi-michael/100001979680043301"
            },
            {
                "@type": "Offer",
                "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock",
                "priceCurrency": "GBP",
                "availabilityStarts": "2026-03-27",
                "availabilityEnds": "",
                "validFrom": "2026-03-27",
                "url": "https://allevents.in/manchester/ruth-from-fact-to-fiction-by-livi-michael/100001979680043301",
                "price": "5.00",
                "name": "Non-members of MLFHS"
            },
            {
                "@type": "Offer",
                "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock",
                "priceCurrency": "GBP",
                "availabilityStarts": "2026-03-27",
                "availabilityEnds": "",
                "validFrom": "2026-03-27",
                "url": "https://allevents.in/manchester/ruth-from-fact-to-fiction-by-livi-michael/100001979680043301",
                "price": 0,
                "name": "Members of MLFHS (free)"
            }
        ],
        "organizer": [
            {
                "@type": "Organization",
                "name": "Manchester & Lancashire FHS",
                "url": "https://allevents.in/org/manchester-and-lancashire-fhs/22810177",
                "description": "Manchester & Lancashire Family History Society was established in 1964. The Society encourages and supports research into family history and works for the preservation of and improved access to relevant archival material.An important part of the Society's work is to educate researchers so that they may get the best out of their research through a regular programme of talks for beginners and quarterly meetings with speakers on topics relating to family history and local history within Greater Manchester. M&LFHS members benefit from free and/or priority access to these events.For details of how to join M&LFHS visit the Society's pages at www.mlfhs.org.uk"
            }
        ]
    }
]
```