North and South in Who Doesn't Love a Classic?

Aug 25, 2015 Michelle (MichelleBookAddict) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: book-girlfriend, physical-own, staying-true-to-history, favorite, reprint, movie-or-tv-show, book-boyfriend, bechdel-test

✔ North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell 4.5★♥

I saw the BBC film with Richard Armitage and loved it. I got the ebook for free on my kindle when I first got it 3 years ago. So it's been on my tbr list forever. It's a good story and similar to Pride and Prejudice. This case being prejudices of social environments vs the North and South of England in the 19th century. Farm-life vs Mill Factories. And I think it's more realistic than Jane Austen, for while Jane uses society as a parody, Elizabeth uses ...more

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Feb 12, 2013 Book Concierge rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classic, 19th-century, nature, england, audio, library, social-commentary, concierge, strong-women, women-writers

Audio book performed by Clare Wille
3.5***

Richard Hale, a vicar at a country parish in southern England, has had a crisis of faith, and decides to leave the church to become a tutor in an industrial city in northern England. This might be fine, except that he is married and has waited until two weeks before they are to move to let his daughter and wife know that their lives are about to be turned upside down. His daughter, Margaret, has had a clearly defined role as the clergyman’s only daughter Audio book performed by Clare Wille
3.5***

Richard Hale, a vicar at a country parish in southern England, has had a crisis of faith, and decides to leave the church to become a tutor in an industrial city in northern England. This might be fine, except that he is married and has waited until two weeks before they are to move to let his daughter and wife know that their lives are about to be turned upside down. His daughter, Margaret, has had a clearly defined role as the clergyman’s only daughter in the rural surroundings of Helstone, and now struggles to find a place in the very different society of Milton. Accompanying her father in the hunt for a suitable dwelling, she meets Mr John Thornton, the wealthy mill-owner who has engaged Mr Hale as a tutor in the classics. Thornton is immediately smitten with the lovely Margaret, though she does not return the feelings. Can opposites attract? Can the self-made Thornton woo and win the refined Margaret?

Gaskell’s book is more than just a romance. She spends considerable time exploring the changes wrought on England’s economy and her people by industrialization. We learn of the difficulties of the laborers vs the excesses of some owners. For a short time I thought Gaskell was going to completely discount Milton as a dirty, factory town, but she balances this with a warning Margaret gives about the harsh conditions of the agricultural workers in the South – toiling in all kinds of weather for low wages, and dependent on the squire for their living.

I loved how Gaskell gave us so much insight into the thoughts and feelings of Thornton, Mr Hale and Higgins (one of the labor leaders). We really come to learn about them and, therefore, care for them. I wish she had spent more time expounding on Margaret’s thoughts; to me, she was rather one-dimensional. Yes, she was kind and also spoke her mind when pushed too far by Mrs Thornton, but she was so passive! I realize that women in her situation at that time had few choices but to sit and wait for a suitable man to come along and propose marriage, but I think Margaret did too much “waiting.”

Still, right up to the ending I was ready to give it four stars. But that ending – abrupt hardly covers it. I actually exclaimed aloud, “Is that it !?”

Clare Wille does a superb job performing the audio book (produced by Naxos AudioBooks). Her facility with accents and skill as a voice-over actress breathed life into the work for me.
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Feb 16, 2016 Amester rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: british-literature, classic, elizabeth-gaskell, industrial-revolution

Well written, balanced, interesting and with a full scope of the human experience.
4.5 stars, half a star deducted for overly swoony descriptions of Margaret, and sewing up the plot in a single page.

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Feb 16, 2016 Sydne rated it really liked it

A very good novel dealing with the industrlialisation of 19th century Britain and the different opinions of workers, employers and bystanders. Educational, yet recreational.

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Jul 19, 2011 Sara rated it liked it

Shelves: 1001-books

Margaret Hale is a pretty young woman growing up in her aunt's fashionable London household alongside her cousin, Edith. Due to the impending marriage of Edith to one Captain Lennox and subsequent move to Corfu, Margaret is to return to her father's vicarage in the English countryside. She arrives there just in time for her father to draw her into his confidence regarding his inability to continue in his position. He takes a job as a tutor in the northern manufacturing town of Milton during a ti Margaret Hale is a pretty young woman growing up in her aunt's fashionable London household alongside her cousin, Edith. Due to the impending marriage of Edith to one Captain Lennox and subsequent move to Corfu, Margaret is to return to her father's vicarage in the English countryside. She arrives there just in time for her father to draw her into his confidence regarding his inability to continue in his position. He takes a job as a tutor in the northern manufacturing town of Milton during a time of industrial unrest between the mill-owners on the one hand and the mill-hands on the other. The Hales find themselves in a curious position, befriended both by the powerful manufacturer, Mr. Thornton, and Nicholas Higgins, a Union leader. Coming from the South, they are ignorant of the adversarial relationship between the hands and the masters and find themselves in an interesting position of trying to make each side understand the other.

This is my first novel by Elizabeth Gaskell and I was quite favorably intrigued by her treatment of the industrial revolution and how it played out. I found the best parts of the book to be those that depicted the antagonism of the masters and the hands to be of particular interest, most especially the riot in the midst of the strike. I also thoroughly enjoyed the numerous discussions between Mr. Thornton, Mr. Hale, Mr. Higgins, and Margaret regarding the merits of their positions regarding industry and economy.

On the other hand, the the romance aspect of the novel, felt thrown in, as if she felt she had to include it in an attempt to emulate other well-known women authors of her time and those that came before, particularly the Bronte sisters and Jane Austen. I don't feel that it really added much to the story and it seemed completely unnecessary.

Interestingly enough, it seems to me that Ms. Gaskell gave far better depth and personality to her male characters, particularly Mr. Thornton and Mr. Higgins than she was able to give to the women. The women read to me as cookie-cutter characters while the men seemed to fairly leap off the page.

I think her treatment of the Industrial Revolution and the interaction between the workers and the masters and it's treatment of social issues of the time is a unique one and what earned the book it's place on the list of 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. If it weren't for the romance and uninspired female characters I would certainly have rated this book higher. ...more

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Jun 19, 2014 Lara rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: social-commentary, classic, england, romance, industrial-revolution

Margaret Hale is happily returning South to her cozy home in Helstone after having lived with her cousin, Edith, in London for quite some time. However, soon Margaret finds out that her father, the local pastor in Helstone, has lost his faith in the Church of England and feels he can no longer perform his duties. Saddened, the family leaves the lovely South for the industrious North and they settle in the town of Milton.

Margaret knows before even arriving that she will not like it there. The bu Margaret Hale is happily returning South to her cozy home in Helstone after having lived with her cousin, Edith, in London for quite some time. However, soon Margaret finds out that her father, the local pastor in Helstone, has lost his faith in the Church of England and feels he can no longer perform his duties. Saddened, the family leaves the lovely South for the industrious North and they settle in the town of Milton.

Margaret knows before even arriving that she will not like it there. The busy town and industry will not suit her. However, she quickly befriends a poor family and through getting to know them her opinions begin to shift. When she meets her father’s new student, the wealthy manufacturer Mr. Thorton, things really start to change. Margaret instantly dislikes him and basically all that he stands for. But as time goes on and her life and circumstances change ever more, she finds that first impressions are not necessarily what they seem. Was she too quick to judge?

North and South was slow to get into but once it got going I did enjoy it. The main character of Margaret did annoy me greatly though, especially at first. She bored me a lot and I found the other characters in the book far more interesting. Possibly it was her youth but she was so pompous at times and sure of herself. Thankfully she grew as a character throughout the novel. And really, the characters in this book were really interesting and they way they balanced one another out.

One of my favorite things about the novel was that it was a story of the workers and the owners of factories in industrial England and it told both sides of the story. Gaskell didn’t make one person better than the other and offered up solutions of compromise in order to make the factory situations better. I thought that was really interesting and different from other similar stories of that time period.

So overall, a good book, it just took a little while to actually grab you and get going. And parts of me wish I could have liked the female heroine more. ...more

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