Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    North and South
    Unavailable
    North and South
    Unavailable
    North and South
    Ebook633 pages11 hours

    North and South

    By Elizabeth Gaskell

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    Listen to the audiobook instead

    About this ebook

    A crisis of conscience uproots a clergyman's family from the pastoral beauty of the south, sending them to a dreary city in the industrial north. Margaret Hale is initially appalled by the unrefined town of Milton and its population of factory workers. But after befriending a local family, she develops a sense of sympathy for the struggles of the poor. The demands of Margaret's awakening social conscience are further challenged by her attraction to John Thornton, self-made man and wealthy factory owner.
    Praised by Charles Dickens as an "admirable story, full of character and power," Elizabeth Gaskell's 1855 novel unfolds across the social divides of a changing world. The romance between the haughty but sensitive heroine and an intelligent, dynamic man of lower social status touches upon political, philosophical, and economic issues. An unflinching depiction of the bleak conditions of the working poor as well as a commentary on the mid-Victorian era's class conflicts, this richly textured tale raises timeless questions about the nature of social authority and protest.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDover Publications
    Release dateJan 23, 2013
    ISBN9780486310756
    Author

    Elizabeth Gaskell

    Elizabeth Gaskell (1810–1865) was a British novelist and short-story writer. Her works were Victorian social histories across many strata of society. Her most famous works include Mary Barton, Cranford, North and South, and Wives and Daughters.

    Read more from Elizabeth Gaskell

    Related to North and South

    Related ebooks

    Classics For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Forgotten Brontë Sister

      Jan 15, 2020

      The Forgotten Brontë Sister
      4 min read

    • Article

      Aspen Words Literary Prize Awarded to Tayari Jones

      Apr 12, 2019

      The Aspen Words Literary Prize was awarded yesterday to Tayari Jones for An American Marriage, at a ceremony in New York City. The prize, which operates out of the Aspen Institute, awards $35,000 annually to “an influential work of fiction that illum

      1 min read

    • Article

      The best-ever ROMANCES

      Jan 7, 2021

      The best-ever ROMANCES
      2 min read

    • Article

      Reading in English

      Jul 7, 2020

      Reading in English
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Girl Who Fell Beneath The Sea

      Feb 23, 2022

      RELEASED OUT NOW! 336 pages | Hardback/ebook/audiobook Author Axie Oh Publisher Hodder & Stoughton The Korean tradition of telling folk stories goes back thousands of years. One well-known story, “The Tale Of Shim Cheong”, centres on the sacrificial

      1 min read

    • Article

      'Farewell For Now:' Leigh Bardugo On 'Rule Of Wolves'

      Apr 7, 2021

      Leigh Bardugo is winding up her Russian-inflected Grishaverse series (at least for now) with Rule of Wolves, which continues the story of the dashing King Nikolai of Ravka and his demonic interloper.

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Only Rule

      Jul 13, 2020

      There is only one rule in polite English society, but it is iron clad. Of course, polite English society is a fiction. For one thing, its members are rarely polite. Politeness is for the middle classes rather than those who live off ancestral acres o

      5 min read

    • Article

      Elsi, The Strange Maid

      Aug 29, 2018

      Elsi, The Strange Maid
      17 min read

    • Article

      STEPPING Out

      Feb 12, 2020

      STEPPING Out
      9 min read

    • Article

      Happy And Glorious

      Jun 1, 2022

      ICAN’T remember when I last used my 12 Fabergé after-dinner coffee cups. Americans call these little cups ‘demitasse’, which is about as bi-lingual as we get. Mine come in five colours and I treasure them, although I’ve reached the age where my guest

      4 min read

    • Article

      Nothing to Declare

      Jun 15, 2019

      All the senior partners were having a laugh about a movie they’d seen. Forty-Five Years. Something, something about the movie taking forty-five years to sit through. The woman McGuinness thought he recognized was in it with them at the far end of the

      24 min read

    • Article

      Dawn Neesom Mind Of My Own

      Sep 20, 2022

      As the nation mourns, let us remember an extraordinary woman who was devoted to us all until the very end. She was only a woman. Just like us, she loved, laughed, rowed with and worried about her family. But she was also unique. A woman born to a de

      3 min read

    • Article

      In Praise Of Decency

      Oct 12, 2022

      In Praise Of Decency
      3 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for North and South

    4/5

    1,750 ratings95 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      After having watched and re-watched (and re-watched and re-watched and...) the BBC adaptation of North and South, it was only right that I should read the novel. Mind you, it was something I meant to do since the first time I saw it, oh so many years ago. And after a North and South marathon with a friend (until the wee hours of the morning), the book reading was my next step.So, it was with a solid knowledge of the story and clear favourites among the characters (Oh, Mr. Thornton...) that I started. One of the things that I first noticed was the language and the portrayal of Margaret, the main character of this book. I quite liked Margaret in the series, but on my first acquaintance with her in book form I found her a bit petty and snobbish. I knew she would change, but it did shock me. But petty and snobbish as she was, and much due to the amazing writing of Elizabeth Gaskell, I didn't see her as a thing of the past, she was not simply a character of a book, and outdated at that. In a few pages Margaret was a real person, and wouldn't be at all out of place in our days. And the same could be said about the writing. Not old fashioned at all, and together with the characterization of Margaret, I could forget this was set in the 19th century.Enter Mr. Thornton, who in the series is beautifully portrayed by Richard Armitage and I thought couldn't get any better. Well, I was wrong. For, something that is less common in the books that are written nowadays, in North and South we can see both actions and feelings (and thoughts) of all the characters, not just the central one. John Thornton, who to Margaret is a stiff, unfeeling master of the North (and in trade *shock, gasp*), when shown to us in the company of his family and friends proves to be an intelligent, honest and fair man, even if he is set in his ways. Really, the man has his faults, like everyone else, but all in all, he a fine man.Amidst the struggle of a factoring town, of poor conditions to workers, whom Margaret befriends and helps, and the heavy hand (and sometimes sneaky) of the masters, of talks of strikes and a lot of death (seriously, Mrs. Gaskell, was there need for so many?) there is a love story between these two. Not without its bumps (it couldn't be that simple, now, could it?), but it was fun to follow it, even if at times it broke my heart (poor, poor, Mr. Thornton).But back to the struggles of the poor. Even if in the case of the Higgins, Margaret's working friends, I prefer their TV counterparts (especially Bessie, who isn't so fervours in her religion on screen), I liked that part of the story. It was a look into the past, of the hardships of those who had to work in conditions that would undoubtedly kill them, and how the priorities of life were different from those of Margaret, for instance.There are, of course, a couple things on this book that I wish that would be different. First, towards the end, when Margaret leaves Milton, much of what happens there stops being told, and I kept wishing to know how those left behind fared. And second, the ending. Oh, it is a very good ending, that made me laugh. But could I please have another chapter? Just a tiny little one? Please? Because I want more!Summarizing (or not really): a very good book, a classic no doubt. I loved the writing (so much that I could only follow this book with another one of Mrs. Gaskell), and the story. Read this book, and watch the series. Both totally worth it.Also at Spoilers and Nuts
    • 4/5
      Victorian women's oppression is pretty harsh, and I was reminded of that just by the "conflict" between Margaret and Mr. Thornton. This is a good social novel, though. I mean, Germinal is far better, but if you like Victorian romance (which I think I don't, really) mixed in with your working class issues, it's pretty good. I guess I also didn't love the Christianity stuff either - Austen and Eliot, by comparison, tend not to talk about religion so much. But I really appreciate the depiction of class conflict and class differences in this book.
    • 4/5
      Probably the only other book where I enjoyed the film version more than I did the actual novel. I liked this novel much more than I liked “Practical Magic” (see above), and I think the reason I liked the mini-series produced of this book so much more than the book itself is because there are so many things that can be read into a look and a glance and you can’t see that in the novel -- especially a novel where the story is told in a kind of first person omniscient, not first person directly, but it only follows one person’s view at a time, in a way, so you don’t really get that intensity in Mr. Thornton’s expression on the page even though it’s described adequately enough. I do like that the mini-series stuck to the book very faithfully (with only a few understandable distinctions), but all the main aspects of the book was there in the mini-series. The one change that they made that I wish had been in the book was with the character of Bessie. She was a much stronger character in the mini-series, I thought.
    • 5/5
      A very satisfying novel. The heroine's father is an English vicar who gives up his living because of religious doubts and moves his family north to a fictionalized version of Manchester at the time of the industrial revolution. The relationship between the heroine and a prosperous mill owner reminded me of Pride and Prejudice.
    • 3/5
      Being a classic I had high hopes for this one, but was dissapointed that I really couldnt get too excited for the heroine or the storyline. It was intriguing seeing the differences between classes and the dialouge between the labor union and the employers. Overall I am glad I read it but would be hard to pick it up soon for a second read.
    • 5/5
      Why has it taken me so long to read an Elizabeth Gaskell novel? North and South is an excellent book with well-drawn characters, themes of class and religion, and a love story, too. I was initially reminded of Jane Austen (always a favorite), but as the novel progressed these themes were explored on a broader, more worldly scale. Also, although Gaskell was writing only several decades later than Austen, I was surprised to find her language much more accessible.

      This was a combination read/listen for me. Juliet Stevenson's narration was nothing short of perfection.
      Very highly recommended
      4.5/5 stars
    • 5/5
      A socialist tract, a paean to capitalism, a Victorian love story, a bildungsroman, or a realist portrayal of life in mid nineteenth century industrial England. This very wonderful novel is all of these things; what it is not is a novel about the divide between the North and the South, but this title was suggested by Charles Dickens whose own novel Hard Times had just been published. Hard Times a novel also concerned with working conditions was not one of Dickens's greatest achievements and lacked the breadth of vision that Mrs Gaskell achieved with North and South.Mrs Gaskell's original title was Margaret Hale and her novel charts Margaret's course from a well born but impoverished parson's daughter to an heiress and part owner of a large textile mill. The novel opens with Margaret staying with her wealthy cousins in London, but after her cousins marriage she rejoins her parent at Helstone a hamlet in the New Forest. She loves the gentle country life, but the family faces a major change when her father must give up his parish over religious scruples and opts to move to Milton (Manchester) the centre of the cotton industry, where he will eek out a living as a tutor. The family find Milton noisy, ugly, dirty and crowded but Margaret is determined to make the best of it for her parents sake. She makes friends with the Higgens family: mill workers and trade unionists while her father becomes a tutor to Mr Thornton a mill owner and captain of industry. Mr Thornton falls in love with Margaret but she is repelled by his hard commercialism and rejects his marriage proposal. The novel charts the bildungsroman of both Margaret and Mr Thornton which must happen before they can reach any kind of accommodation.The reader of course recognises their suitability and similarity and the outcome to their possible relationship is only revealed on the last page of the novel. Here is Mr Thornton's view of Margaret when he first sees her in some rented rooms:"but now that he saw Margaret, with her superb ways of moving and looking, he began to feel ashamed of having imagined that it would do very well for the Hales.....Margaret could not help her looks, but the short curled upper lip the round, massive upturned chin, the manner of carrying her head; her movements full of soft feminine defiance always gave strangers the impression of haughtiness"And this is Margaret's view of Mr Thornton when she sees him at dinner talking to his colleague Mill Owners:"some dispute arose, which was warmly contested, it was referred to Mr Thornton who had hardly spoken before, but who now gave an opinion, the grounds of which were so clearly stated that even the opponents yielded. Margaret's attention was called to her host; his whole manner as master of the house, as entertainer of his friends was so straightforward, simple and modest as to be thoroughly dignified. Margaret thought she had never seen him to so much advantage".Margaret's friendship with the Higgens family which has allowed her to see the suffering of the mill workers at first hand has driven a wedge between her and Thornton:"Margaret's whole soul rose up against him while he reasoned in this way as if commerce were everything and humanity nothing"The battle between commerce and humanity, capital and labour is fought out in the factories and mills of Milton and the rhetoric used then is just as relevant as it was in the 1980's when Britain's industry was reshaped under Thatcher's government. Mrs Gaskell guides the reader to a more humanitarian view; the fight between the masters and the men could be ameliorated if only they would take note of what each was saying. Both their livelihoods depend on the success of the industry and if they could find ways of working together then surely it would be to everyone's benefit. This is skillfully reflected in the battle of wills between Margaret and Mr Thornton whose own love story is brilliantly woven into the fabric of the events on the industrial battle ground.The struggle between the masters and the men is a titanic struggle for power and the hard headed Thornton sets himself against Higgens who becomes a sort of working class hero. Gaskell refuses to take sides as she ensures that both viewpoints are given equal weight. Higgens and Thornton are both proud men but are also honorable men and it is through Margaret's friendship with both of them that at last a dialogue can begin. Mrs Gaskell has Higgens speak in the local dialect which highlights the differences between him and the mill owners but also between him and the Hales family. It is superbly done.Milton is brought to vibrant life through Margaret's eyes and becomes almost another character in the novel. The smoke and the grime, the rough streets the workers pouring out of the factories at certain times of the day catching Margaret unawares and always ready with some witty comment about the way she looks. Mr Thornton's house is situated opposite his mill inside the factory gates, a large courtyard and a flight of steps is all that separates him from his work. Margaret and her family are horrified by the noise and the industry when they first visit. Change is the motif that runs throughout this novel. The vibrant trade capital of Milton is constantly changing and at a rapid pace. To succeed in their ventures then the attitudes of the mill owners must change as must the trade unionists. Margaret must adapt to her new situation and Mr Thonton must change his way of thinking if he wants to win Margaret. The people who cannot change must make way and there are plenty of deaths, most of which have repercussions for Margaret. Both her parents die, Bessy Higgens finally succumbs to her terminal illness contracted whilst working in the mills. Mr Bell the Oxford friend of Mr Hale must also depart as his refuge in academia does not fit him for the new commercial world. Margaret's strength of character enables her to deal with all that life throws at her and although she bends she does not break and her experiences in Milton only serve to make her stronger. Mrs Gaskell's achievement in bringing off this novel should be admired by every reader. The avoidance of sentimentality, her refusal to take sides, her realistic portrayal of industrial conflict and the brilliant characters that people her book all add up to a wonderful reading experience.
    • 5/5
      My most favourite novel forever!If I could marry a book it would be this one.
    • 4/5
      A good romance, and a fascinating view on the social struggles in Northern England during the industrial revolution.
    • 4/5
      Sometimes the old writers remind me of modern ones--Charles Dickens in particular shares many spiritual descendants, none of whom live up to his standard. This book gave me the strong impression of a Victorian Maeve Binchey. I'd been avoiding it until now because the title evokes the American Civil War, and I don't like war, and it's enough to colour my vague impression of this non-war-related book until now. I also knew it had something to do with unions or industrialism, and it does, but it only seems a bit didactic in one chapter, and just local colour in the others, so that wasn't so bad.

      I enjoyed it immensely, but it wasn't as fun as I'd want it to be, to be honest. Still, a beautifully-crafted Victorian novel, unread by me until now, is still a treat.

      (Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s).
    • 4/5
      A good novel that could have been a great one. There was much to like - especially the key relationship between Miss Hale and Mr. Thornton. Margaret and John are well-drawn characters and Gaskell has a keen eye for detail in the exploration of their inner life - and show both their flaws and good qualities. And there's a lot of wisdom to gain as they mature and learn to appreciate life on the other side of the fence. I also liked the way Gaskell makes the Christian conviction of the characters one of the themes - Margaret (a deep faith in God), her father (the troubled dissenter), Bessy (the angelic faith) and "the heathen" Nicholas Higgins - and I guess we could include John Thornton (a childhood faith that was lost). My problem was with the plot. It was a slow beginning - but then it got really exciting just to wander of with a long intermezzo in London and Helstone that was rather doll - and then a very abrupt ending - although satisfying, for sure. And why not try to develop the Frederick-fugitive-plot a little more?Well, that said I will for sure read more Gaskell.
    • 4/5
      Elizabeth Gaskell's descriptions of the country at Helstone evoke Margaret's deepest feelings.The father's angst and subsequent abrupt departure feel contrived to us and to many of the characters.There was no pressing reason for him not to wait until he found a decent position for himself and a healthierplace to live than swarmy Milton. He appears both selfish and dense.Yes, his unilateral decision to move his family opens the floodgates to readers for the physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional horrors of early industrialization and the consequences of the greed of the masters to the lives and deaths of the factory workers. The move allows Margaret to make empirical decisions about the evils of the factories and to forcefully feel the contrasts of the superficial and uncompassionate shallow lives of the rich part of her family with the lives of the workers in Milton.So much of the plot hinges on being afraid to speak, which becomes tedious and annoying in the page skipping way.Final Questions: 1. Why did supposedly compassionate Margaret never send Dr. Donaldson to Bessy?2. After another Yes, Reader, I Married Him, will Margaret actually return to the hideous Milton that has killed so many people she loves?
    • 5/5
      Margaret Hale has been educated in London but when her cousin Edith marries, she moves back to Helstone in Southern England, where her father is a vicar. When Mr Hale becomes a Dissenter of Church of England, he gives up his parsonage and moves his family north to the industrial town of Milton where he is to work as a tutor.John Thornton is the owner of one of the local cotton mills and is proud of Milton and its reputation for fine manufacturing and increased industrialization.Thornton and Margaret clash over their opposing views on the way of life in the slower, wealthier south and the faster, industrialized north. Margaret finds herself sympathetic to the plight of the workers and the poor in Milton. She befriends Bessy Higgins and her father Nicholas, who is a factory worker and union leader. Margaret is frequently in Thornton's company as he and her father become good friends. Thornton falls in love with Margaret but she rejects him as she does not think him a gentleman and that he is only interested in making money at his worker's expense. But Margaret gets an education in Northern ways and starts to appreciate Thornton for the man that he is.my review: I read North and South after watching the BBC production, after reading about it on Tasha's blog: Truth, Beauty, Freedom, and Books. Richard Armitage plays John Thornton and he is so sexxxyy!So I read the book.There has been some comparison to Pride and Prejudice but other than the relationship, it is not so similar. Gaskell focuses on more of the social aspects with the increased industrialization of Northern England. Margaret is the outsider and Thornton is the insider. Margaret is smart, strong, and independent. She is the one that has to break the news to her invalid mother that Mr. Hale has broken with the church and is moving them up North. She helps her father and many of the poor in Milton. In this way she does remind me of Elizabeth Bennett. Thornton is somewhat like Darcy in that he is headstrong and devoted to his family, but Thornton is not sulky and quiet. He is opinionated but fair.Gaskell also writes from Thornton's perspective as well as Margaret's. So we know what he is thinking and therefore THERE IS NO NEED FOR SOMEONE TO WRITE A BOOK CALLED THORNTON'S DIARY. Just saying.A blogger compared this book as a mix of Austen and Dickens and I agree with that. It really is an excellent novel that is much more than a love story and really delves into the social aspects of workers versus masters and unions and strikes. Watching the BBC production did not ruin the book for me and it helped to imagine Richard Armitage as Thornton. Yummy! This book is much better than my review and I highly recommend it. I also recommend watching the movie!my rating 5/5
    • 4/5
      I read this because I love the BBC TV Series.

      Margaret Hale has been raised in the prosperous South of England, her father is the local Vicar. But her world is turned upside down by his sudden decision to move the family to the "smoky, dirty" manufacturing town of Milton in the North after a bout of conscience.

      Margaret, initially shocked by what she witnesses in the numerous cotton mills, develops a heart for some of the poor locals and befriends them trying to do what she can to ease their burdens from her lofty position. Gradually she learns to relate to them and even to become one of them

      Mr Thornton is a manufacturer and Magistrate in Milton who crosses paths and clashes with Margaret due to their differing ideals and class backgrounds. He becomes a good friend of the Hale family due to studying under her father.

      What will happen when Margaret's new found friends decide to go on strike putting Mr Thornton's livelihood in jeopardy....

      I like this story as it combines the battle of the classes and the North/South divide which makes for interesting reading. The characters are well developed and believable. It was a bit too slow paced for me especially at the beginning when I nearly gave up but I'm glad I persevered as it picked up a bit towards the middle. There are various details that have been changed for the TV Series including the ending. I think the producers of the series did well to cut the beginning as there is too much setting the scene and unnecessary detail in the book.

      Recommended for lovers of period classics....It is obviously clean with no swearing, minimal violence and no sexual content.





    • 5/5
      I absolutely loved this book. I had a hard time putting it down. Part of the reason I loved it so much is that it is a topic I am very close to. Even though this novel takes place over 150 years ago, it still rings true today. My parents were both part of unions and I was as well for a short time. So I know how the workers (or "hands") felt. Milton also felt a lot like home to me. Milwaukee is very much like Milton (or was). So I really felt like I knew the characters of Higgins and the other workers. I too feel the same way that Thornton feels about the North (or Milton). I too am from a similar type of city and I don't know how people can survive in the country. This book has a warm place in my heart and I wish I would have known about it a long time ago. I highly recommend this book.
    • 5/5
      A great love story involving poor first impressions and haughty pride (P&P in a sense but reverse) between Margaret Hale, a young woman from the country who moves to an industrious mill town, and John Thornton, the local mill owner who started with nothing and pulled him and his family up form the boot strap. The two have differeing viewpoints on the way he should handle his business and Margaret forms friendships with the factory workers. How could these two ever see eye to eye? Great dark gothic tale with a silver lining! A must read especially by fans of Austen's P&P, this book ranks up there in my opinion (see the Richard Armitage North and South miniseries after you read! He has Firth on the run! lol)
    • 4/5
      So as noted above, yes – for a long time when I saw the title of this book I thought it was about the Civil War. And I thought it would be too sad to read – so laugh at me now, get it all out of your system.My friend, Hannah, mentioned Elizabeth Gaskell as a writer who portrayed her strong women to be beautiful. Coming on the heels of a Wilkie Collins read, this was refreshing. Collins described his strong women as ugly (even going so far to describe the hair on their faces), but Gaskell’s Margaret in North and South is beautiful, haughty, elegant and everything you could wish for.When I was reading others opinions on this book I kept noticing a comparison to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, and further.. a comparison of Mr. Thornton to Mr. Darcy. They couldn’t be more different, in my opinion. While both have an incredibly strong bond to their family, I actually saw more of a resemblance between Margaret and Mr. Darcy. Margaret had that same turn up of her nose, the same pride that Darcy struggled with through Pride and Prejudice. Although, of course, she was sillier than a man would have been, still – they were very, very alike.I enjoyed reading the story, I’ll admit. There was quite a bit of drama happening over the littlest things, but mostly I enjoyed the look at the workers unions and the way of business at the time. In Austen’s books we only get a picture of the drawing rooms and the gossip, but Elizabeth Gaskell takes us out of the drawing rooms and into the politics and the poverty. It was that aspect of the book I enjoyed the most.I’m sure I’ll recommend North and South to friends in the future. It doesn’t quite rank up there with some of my other favorites, but it was enjoyable enough. However, it is not good fodder for discussion unless you really want to dive into the politics. I wouldn’t recommend it for a book club reading.
    • 5/5
      I can't believe it's taken me so long to finally read this! I fell in love with the story when I first saw the adaptation on TV, bought the book (and the DVD!) soon afterwards... and it has been sitting on my shelves for FIVE YEARS waiting for me to finally get my act together! Anyway, it was definitely not a short read, but so very worth it. Basic storyline: Margaret Hale and her family move to the Northern industrial town of Milton from their sweet Southern village. The whole family is uprooted and struggles to settle into the smoky, noisy, dank atmosphere of their new home. Their earliest acquaintances there are the Thorntons - dignified Mrs Thornton, her silly daughter Fanny, and her handsome son John, wealthy master of the Marlborough Mills and a famous name in cotton. Despite Mr Thornton's best efforts, Margaret believes Milton society to be inferior to their status as gentlefolk, and so the scene is set for a 'Pride and Prejudice'-esque story of wounded egos, longing glances, misunderstandings and, finally, true love.Despite the similarities between this novel and the Austen favourite, there are big differences. This book is much more complex, and much grittier, leaning further towards Dickens in some respects. The poverty of the Milton workers, in which Margaret takes a philanthropic interest, is a major focus of the novel. The misfortunes of the Higgins and Boucher families, and their constant struggles against injustice, illness and uncaring employers, are carefully explored and movingly rendered. At the same time the progressive ambitions and difficult decisions made by the masters are never overlooked, providing a balanced view of industrial progress in the mid-19th century. And alongside all this Gaskell pointedly shows the contrast between the frivolity of the London social scene and the harsh life of Milton, as well as slowly drawing the reader deep into the lives of the Hale family, who have their own preoccupations, hardships and tragedies to bear. All in all, this is a wonderful novel. It provides a fascinating insight into a time and an existence very different to modern life, while never losing the intimacy that draws the reader into the lives of these characters. I cried several times over the course of the novel, and had the HUGEST smile on my face at the inevitable and well-deserved happy ending. These characters burrowed their way into this reader's heart over the course of the book, and I've learned a little to boot. A fantastic read - and if you haven't seen the BBC adaptation with Richard Armitage and Daniela Denby-Ashe, you should! It's what started my love affair with this story and I've been watching it very happily as I've been reading... Highly recommended.
    • 5/5
      The North and South of the novel isn't American, but English, although there are some interesting similarities. As depicted in this mid-19th Century novel, in the south of England are the "aristocratic counties" and largely agricultural. Margaret Hale, the novel's protagonist, is from that rural south in Hampshire, near New Forest with its ferns and trees and songbirds. She's of a "good family" from one of the "three professions"--her father is the vicar of a small village. When her father becomes a "schismatic" who can no longer subscribe to the beliefs of the Church of England, he resigns his living and Margaret is uprooted with her family to the industrial north of Milton (really Manchester according to editorial notes), for which she has a deep disdain. To her a wealthy manufacturer such as John Thornton is nothing but a "tradesman" like the neighborhood butcher, and very much her social inferior. For much of the book, she treats him with far less respect and more social snobbery than his workers. A lot of what I found unexpectedly fascinating is the balance with which Gaskell treats the captains of industry and the striking workers--neither group come across as caricatures, but people. It's hard not to place your sympathy with the workers struggling to feed their families. Nor does Gaskell obscure the hazards of their work. Margaret befriends a girl, Bessie Higgins, who is dying because she worked carding cotton, and the fibers damaged her lungs--and the novel makes clear that the manufacturers knew the dangers and could have taken steps to avoid them. Bessie's father Nicholas is determined to gain better for workers through the Union--and without violence--understanding how that can discredit him. He's an admirable figure without him (or his daughter) ever being sentimentalized in a Dickensonian way.At the same time, there are hints that the workers of that north are better off than those of the south Margaret left behind, making this a rare nuanced depiction of the industrial revolution. In the south the Hales found it easy to hire domestics. In the north, they find the mills give workers better pay and more independence and find it impossible to find anyone. Margaret notes the homes and food on the table of the northern industrial workers are better than that she knew in the south and their agricultural work far more debilitating. In the very fact of the strike there's a demonstration of the power of the factory workers that is completely missing in the south, where it would be unthinkable. The industrial workers are far less deferential and better educated. And Thornton's arguments and reasoning for how he acts as he does towards his workers aren't straw men, nor is he a Simon Legree or Ebenezer Scrooge. The debates between him and Margaret about his responsibilities towards his workers are far from dry--the novel feels strikingly relevant today.And Thornton is personally appealing from the beginning--more so than Margaret through the first volume of the book. He's a self-made man who had to leave school young to work in the factories when his father died, knew poverty, and rose on his merits--although that in itself gives him an attitude that poverty is a result of character defects and that anyone could do as he did. He is quietly kind to the Hales from the beginning despite Margaret's rudeness to him, and quietly intercedes for them with their landlord without their knowledge. He's brave--standing up to a mob out for his blood. And he early on falls for Margaret who feels nothing for contempt for him. In this industrial Pride and Prejudice, Margaret is the one who has a surfeit of both towards John. Some might be put off by the style, which can take some getting used to if it has been a while since you've read Victorian literature. It's told in omniscient, with a wealth of literary allusions (the footnotes in the Norton edition I read this in was very helpful there) and quotations, usually of period poetry, head each chapter. The pace is er...leisurely at times. There's lots of the Northern working class dialect conveyed in tedious to read phonetic spelling and apostrophes, untranslated foreign phrases, loads of exclamation points and rhetorical questions, overuse of the word "languid" and its permutations. I admit I greatly prefer Austen to Gaskell, because Austen manages to serve her social commentary with a humor and light touch Gaskell utterly lacks, and Gaskell sometimes is heavy-handed in religious content and moralizing not even Mansfield Park can come near matching. Nor is the arc of the romantic relationship as well-developed as in Pride and Prejudice. All in all, though, I found I preferred Gaskell's style and characterizations to what I've read of Dickens--and Gaskell presents a wider world in social strata and issues than Jane Austen. I found this an outstanding, thought-provoking novel, worthy of being shelved with Austen, Bronte and Dickens.
    • 5/5
      It's by Elizabeth Gaskell--what more needs to be said? Wonderfully drawn characters engaged in conflicts with social expectations, between their beliefs and desires, and with each other; a fascinating depiction of Victorian society; a believable love story. One of Gaskell's bests. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      It's worth repeating. Elizabeth Gaskell is perfect for readers who love Charles Dickens, but not his frequently one-dimensional female characters. This is a love story of minds and hearts, so worth the time spent in its' pages.
    • 5/5
      I saw the BBC movie before I read this book and I was prepared to be disappointed with the book. But I was very pleasantly surprised. I really liked it. And Elizabeth Gaskell had so many fascinating contemporaries! Her social messages were balanced by her likeable characters and the touch of romance. Plus I gotta admit that I don't really have the stomach for much of Dickens--Elizabeth Gaskell does it in a gentler way.
    • 5/5
      Despite my love of 'the classics' I'm ashamed to admit that until this I had never picked up anything by Elizabeth Gaskell. Now I have I can only regret not doing it sooner. To have this book in my life is an honour and I honour I intend to revisit many many times.

      Set in industrial England, this is ultimately a novel about conflict and rebellion. It is brimming with religious and social commentary that holds to this day.

      Gaskell's prose are just sublime. Her writing is thoughtful and in parts, simply beautiful. Her characters feel very real and very modern. John Thornton is quite probably one of the best literary heroes ever created and

      If you pick only one book from my read list to read, I urge you to make it this one. North & South has easily taken it's place in my top 3 reads of all time. Shame on me for not finding it sooner.

    • 4/5
      This book was a relief after Defoe's Moll Flanders. For a book I had to read for class and didn't pick for myself, I liked it a lot. It helped that the religious ideology was one I could more readily get on with -- given that Moll Flanders is profoundly Calvinist, while Gaskell was a Unitarian, which shows in one line which stuck out for me: "Margaret the Churchwoman, her father the Dissenter, Higgins the Infidel, knelt down together. It did them no harm."

      As a story, I enjoyed it. It reminded me rather of Charlotte Bronte -- perhaps not surprisingly, as that's one of my favourite books from the 1800s, and written by a woman in a man's world at around the same time. On the other hand, it's quite different. It doesn't seem to go anywhere much, and despite the climax being the coming together of two characters at last, the focus is far from being romance. It's a social novel, which I suppose leads into the more analytical stuff.

      The big focus of the novel is binary opposites: North vs. South, the rich and respectable vs. the poor, etc. That comes through in all kinds of ways: dialect is an obvious one, but also less obviously the way they speak -- Margaret, for example, and Mr Hale, speak much more at length than the Thorntons. Character is another: there are several characters who are clearly meant to be exact opposites, such as Mrs Hale and Mrs Thornton, and Mrs Hale and Bessy Higgins.

      It's quite interesting to read, and to see how far Elizabeth Gaskell went with it, and how she worked around the prejudices of her readers. I think I'd be interested to the see the BBC adaptation of the book.
    • 5/5
      All right, I just finished rereading this because I'm leading the discussion for book club this month. I originally gave it 4 stars, but I'm bumping it to 5. I really LOVE this book. It's similar to Pride & Prejudice, where the man is in love with the woman and the woman slowly, slowly comes around. But this book dealt with more important issues than romance, like social classes and the difference between employment and those who idle away their time because they're rich. Mr. Thornton is strong, yet tender inside, and completely passionate about Margaret Hale. I haven't read P&P in a while, but I don't think we ever really got to feel what Mr. Darcy was feeling for Elizabeth. Gaskell really does a good job of switching the viewpoints so we can feel how much Mr. Thornton loves Miss Hale. I may not have enjoyed Margaret Hale as much as Elizabeth Bennett, but she was still very strong and took care of things in the family when none of them were strong. Definitely a must read. And I actually decided to buy it - which is rare for me. (unless I find the book for $1 used) A romance I will continue to read over the years.
    • 5/5
      I had relatively low expectations for this book, as I'd attempted to watch the BBC special before and found it pretty dull. But the the book itself (actually the audiobook) was a very different experience. While I found myself feeling a bit impatient with the heroine and perhaps sympathising a bit more with Mrs. Thornton than the author probably intended, the characters and their stories were so finely drawn that I fell right into this book. I was continuously impatient to know what would happen next, even though the outcome of the story (typical romance in its plot) was a given. Juliet Stevenson gives an excellent performance in reading the story. Highly recommend.
    • 3/5
      North and South is the classic story by Elizabeth Gaskell exploring the theme of social problems during England's Industrial Revolution. The story is presented through the viewpoint from Miss Margaret Hale as she's forced to move with her family from rural southern England to the industrialized town of Milton in northern England. There she learns about labour relations between the workers and the mill-owners, witnessing a strike first hand, and meets a working class boy where, after much time and and many events, they admit that they do, in fact, love each other. The heart of the story is compelling. The social commentary of the time feels fairly relevant in that there will always be a struggle for labor relations as long as there are laborers and bosses. Gaskell also writes what feels like an authentic representation of life during that time and doesn't pull her punches. People deal with the day to day highs and lows just like anyone else and it isn't always easy. In fact if you updated the prose to be more modern, with descriptions of today's fashion and technology, the story would be just as relevant. That's the part that makes this a classic.Where my frustrations come in are with the main characters. Both main leads are very prideful and have prejudices to overcome, with a touch of Shakespearean misunderstandings, before they can admit they care for one another. That in itself is not a bad thing as it worked well for Austen. What bothered me is after the whole book of building up Margaret and Mr. Thornton's relationship, the final pay off is just given a couple of pages right at the end. It felt like a let down. Also, Margaret is a Mary Sue and it got annoying constantly reading about how perfect she is.This was an interesting if frustrating read. I'm glad I gave Gaskell a try.
    • 5/5
      Love it! It's Pride and Prejudice with a serious labor politics twist.
    • 2/5
      By all accounts Elizabeth Gaskell's "North and South" should have been right up my alley. I adore Victorian-era fiction, especially if it features young heroines wrestling with dire circumstances and tangled love stories. This book has all of that, but frankly, I found it rather dull.Gaskell's heroine, Margaret Hale, goes from London society to an industrial town named Milton as her father leaves the priesthood and takes up teaching instead. The book focuses a lot on the industrial revolution-- the needs of the working class versus the needs of the factory owners as a company goes on strike.I found saintly Margaret somewhat annoying -- her reactions to events often range too odd and contrived for me and the love story really never came together for me. Overall, I found this novel pretty disappointing.
    • 4/5
      Classics are always good and so was this. The female protagonist Margret Hales was the one I liked the most she was strong, stubborn and yet sensitive. I had already seen the BBC TV adaptation of it and it was as good as this book.