Mistaken for a foreign correspondent, a mild-mannered wildlife writer is sent to a fictional African country on the eve of a war. He flounders through a sea of wild rumors and sleazy journalists desperate for a story.

Miss Matty's house is full of life and bustle. Her dream of having a child in the house has been realized in the birth of Tilly, daughter of her maid Martha and carpenter Jem. Elsewhere, the shadow of the railway still looms, but the line has been halted five miles outside Cranford, a disaster as far as Captain Brown is concerned. Meanwhile, as Mr. Buxton returns to town with his son, William, and his niece, Erminia, Miss Matty becomes concerned about...

Cranford, in 1842, is a market town in northwest England. It is a place governed by etiquette, custom and above all, an intricate network of ladies. It seems that life has always been conducted according to their social rules. For spinsters Deborah Jenkyns, the arbiter of correctness, and Matty, her dumurring sister, the town is a hub of intrigue. Handsome new doctor Frank Harrison has arrived from London; a retired Captain and his daughters move...