"Ruth" by Elizabeth Gaskell is a novel that follows the story of a young orphan named Ruth Hilton who is taken in by Mrs. Mason, a seamstress in the town of Fordham. Mrs. Mason gives Ruth a home and a job as a dressmaker's assistant, and Ruth begins to rebuild her life after years of poverty and hardship. However, Ruth's world is turned upside down when she falls in love with a young man named Henry Bellingham, who comes from a wealthy family. Despite the social and cultural barriers between them, Ruth and Henry embark on a passionate love affair that threatens to tear both of their lives apart.