When it comes to the subject of the popular entertainment and the preferences of the masses, why do I think of the expression; “the more things change, the more they stay the same”?  Nowadays, the blockbuster film gets all the acclaim while the less publicized --but no less deserving—ones don’t get screened so often. The same fate befell the not-so-well-known 19th century novels that we feature here. These are only a few of the myriad worthwhile novels by the best writers of the era.  
 
Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell

This novel is sub-titled 'A Tale of Manchester Life'. The cast of poor, working-class characters was something new in the writing of the Victorian era. Mary Batson, daughter of an embittered worker, wins the attention of Henry Carson, son of one of the employers. But a group of workmen plot his murder as a warning to his class, and it falls upon Mary's father to perform the deed. Suspicion lies with Mary's working class admirer, Jed, who is tried for his life. In Britain, in1964, a televised version was aired in 4 parts.
Even though she writes in the typical manner of a Victorian (including signing her name "Mrs. Gaskell"), Gaskell is critical of Victorian era attitudes, particularly those toward women. She demonstrates this by using complex narratives and dynamic women characters. In addition to her fiction, Gaskell also wrote the first biography of Charlotte Bronte, which helped to increase the popularity of her fellow writer.

Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome: 

Three men and a dog embark on a hilarious adventure on The Thames River in England. Even though this story was written in 1889, it contains sparkling insights into human—and canine nature that make it as fresh today as when it was written. In its first twenty years alone, the book sold over a million copies worldwide. It had been adapted to movies, TV and radio shows, stage plays, and even a musical. Its writing style influenced many humorists and satirists in England and elsewhere.
Thanks to his commercial success, Jerome was able to dedicate all of his time to writing. He wrote a number of plays, essays and novels, but was never again able to recapture the success of Three Men in a Boat. In 1892 he was chosen by to edit The Idler (over Rudyard Kipling). The magazine was an illustrated satirical monthly catering to gentlemen (who, following the theme of the publication, appreciated idleness)

Will Warburton by George Gissing

In one of Gissing’s last works, the title character, Will Warburton, is a young gentleman of means, a man of commerce, who, losing everything in speculation, is forced into the life of a grocer, a thing he finds, at first, enormously tragic.

Gissing was an English novelist, who wrote twenty-three novels between 1880 and 1903. Although his early works are naturalistic, he developed into one of the most accomplished realists of the late-Victorian era. In advance of their time, his books variously deal with the growing commercialism of the literary market, religious charlatanism, the situation of emancipated women in a male-dominated society, the poverty of the working classes, and marriage in a decadent world.

The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope

A scathing satirical novel published in London in 1875 by Anthony Trollope, after a popular serialization. It was regarded by many of Trollope's contemporaries as his finest work. One of his longest novels (it contains a hundred chapters); The Way We Live Now is particularly rich in sub-plot. It was inspired by the financial scandals of the early 1870s, and lashes at the widespread dishonesty of the age, commercial, political, moral, and intellectual. It is one of the last memorable Victorian novels to have been published in monthly parts. (The 2001 Mini-series is available on DVD)

Some of Trollope's best-loved works, known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, revolve around the imaginary county of Barsetshire; he also wrote penetrating novels on political, social, and gender issues and conflicts of his day.

Silas Marner by George Eliot (aka Mary Anne Evans)

After he is wrongly accused of a crime and expelled from his community, weaver Silas Marner becomes a miser and a recluse. A strange sequence of events, and the appearance of a small child, transforms his life in this realistic tale of rural life, and symbolic drama of sin and repentance. (Sir Ben Kingsley portrays Silas in a highly-praised 1985 TV adaptation.)
Eliot was one of the leading writers of the Victorian Era. Her novels, largely set in provincial England, are well known for their realism and psychological insight.