Margaret Hale, the beautiful young daughter of a clergyman, is uprooted from her father's Hampshire rectory in the south of England when he decides he is unable to make a fresh declaration of conformity to the Liturgy and, in consequence, makes the decision to leave the church. Mr Hale resigns his position and takes his daughter and his delicate wife (who is totally shocked and distressed by her husband's decision) and moves them to Milton, an industrial town in the north of England. At Milton, Mr Hale takes on a tutoring role, which brings him into contact with factory owner John Thornton, a self-made man and an individual (and all that he stands for) whom Margaret takes exception to at their first meeting. In comparison with the south of England, Margaret and her mother find the northern town of Milton dirty and smoky and find the local people brash and uncultured; Margaret is also dismayed at the poverty in which the factory workers and their families are forced to live. However, she soon realizes it is up to her to make the best of the situation she finds herself in and she begins to take an interest in the local workers, which leads her into befriending a young woman and her father, Nicholas Higgins, a factory worker, who is involved with the unions and ready to take the workforce out on strike. Margaret's involvement with the Higgins family and her concerns about the living conditions of the working-class in Milton, brings her into further conflict with mill-owner John Thornton - who, by now, finds himself deeply attracted to Margaret, despite her attitude towards him. As time passes and Margaret and her family find themselves in some very difficult circumstances, Margaret's view of John Thornton gradually begins to change and she starts to see him in a new light, but then a situation arises, the consequences of which threaten to ruin their growing understanding of one another and spoil their chances of any sort of meaningful relationship.
Published in 1855, Elizabeth Gaskell's 'North and South' with its themes of power and authority, and of gender and social inequality, has been compared with Charlotte Bronte's 'Shirley' for its depiction of the struggles of the workers against the mill owners, and Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice' for its portrayal of the combination of antagonism and attraction experienced between the two main characters, and I can understand why this novel has been thus compared - however, Miss Gaskell has her own story to tell, she tells it in her own way and she tells it particularly well. I first read this novel many years ago when I was a teenager and feel I have derived much more from it by this second visit, finding it an involving and very interesting read. At 500 or so pages, this is certainly not the longest of the classics, but if you feel you might not have the time to devote to it, do consider downloading the Audible audio version:'North and South', which is very ably narrated by Juliet Stevenson and which you can enjoy listening to 'on the go' or whilst getting on with something else.
5 Stars.
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Hidden gem , bit serious read.
Like many I found out about the book from the brilliant BBC miniseries and decided to give the book a go, and I am so happy I did it. It is a realist's version of Pride and prejudice ,made for mature audience. A world which is not far from the current one with real hardship. I really enjoyed the growth and change shown by both the protagonists. I have a North and South in all formats ie, audio, kindle and paperback. The Penguin Classics , black cover version of paperback (image for reference) has really small font and hard to read, though it has good notes etc. I would suggest Oxford classic version, the font is bolder and easier to read. Now about the Kindle version of the book, look for ASIN : B01KXZ2T2S, Publisher : anboco; 1st edition (9 Sept. 2016). This one costs 50p and enables you to buy audible version read by Ms Juliet Stevenson (my favourite) at a reduced price. I found no problem in this version, easy to switch for reading to listening. I have added the product image for reference( lady's pic). Audiobooks , especially classics narrated by Ms Stevenson are my favourite and this one was no exception.
Top reviews from United Kingdom
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- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 April 2021
Like many I found out about the book from the brilliant BBC miniseries and decided to give the book a go, and I am so happy I did it. It is a realist's version of Pride and prejudice ,made for mature audience. A world which is not far from the current one with real hardship. I really enjoyed the growth and change shown by both the protagonists.
I have a North and South in all formats ie, audio, kindle and paperback. The Penguin Classics , black cover version of paperback (image for reference) has really small font and hard to read, though it has good notes etc. I would suggest Oxford classic version, the font is bolder and easier to read.
Now about the Kindle version of the book, look for ASIN : B01KXZ2T2S, Publisher : anboco; 1st edition (9 Sept. 2016). This one costs 50p and enables you to buy audible version read by Ms Juliet Stevenson (my favourite) at a reduced price. I found no problem in this version, easy to switch for reading to listening. I have added the product image for reference( lady's pic).
Audiobooks , especially classics narrated by Ms Stevenson are my favourite and this one was no exception.
Images in this review
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 July 2019
Top reviews from other countries
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Ugo HarrisReviewed in Italy on 11 September 2024
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
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- RitikaReviewed in India on 16 December 2015
North and South is undoubtedly one the best classics I have ever read
