Margaret Hale is living a simple, happy life in the country in the south of England, content to be a parson's daughter in the small village of Helstone. When her father abruptly decides to leave the church, Margaret finds that she must be the strong one of the family because her father insists upon moving to the northern part of England in industrial Milton; as unlike peaceful Helstone as she could imagine. There she continually finds herself sympathesizing with the workers in the factories and at the same time, trying to deny her growing fascination with mill owner John Thornton.

If you like good romances with social commentary, books like "Jane Eyre" and most mid-Victorian literature, you will like this book

The entire book was one delightful surprise. I had only read a short story by Gaskell before and after reading "North and South" I have no idea why I've not encountered reviews of it before. It's an excellent book, nearly on the level of more famous classics like "Jane Eyre".

See the recent BBC version starring Richard Armitage (I did and it's wonderful).

Thoughtful. Gaskell isn't only concerned with romance, but with some of the social concerns of her day--the place of women, industry and the ills accompanying it, regional differences and more.

Elizabeth Gaskell deserves more recognition than I have seen given to her; our library didn't even own a copy of anything she's written.

I recommend any book that I enjoy reading in hopes that someone else may have the same feeling.

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Created Sep 22, 2006 at 1:17pm • Submit your own review...