North and South, Elizabeth Gaskell

I'm back!  And with another book on my list of very-favorites.  This one actually came to me by the way of Netflix - yes, I broke a cardinal rule and watched the movie first.  The film version was so good that I figured the book must be even better.  And it was.

Our heroine, Margaret Hale, grew up in aristocratic southern England.  Her father is a country curate, but she spent many of her formative years living with a wealthy (and very irritating, in my opinion) aunt in London.  When her cousin (also very irritating) gets married, she returns to her parents at Helstone (the parsonage), only to soon be uprooted to Milton, an industrial city in northern England.  The Hale family has a strange position in Milton social circles, which are polarized between textile factory owners and their workers.  As the novel progresses, Margaret forms relationships with individuals in both classes - not least the distinguished and well-respected master, Mr. Thornton (a tough nut to crack).  I'll leave the rest to your reading pleasure.

Elizabeth Gaskell lived at the same time as Dickens and the Bronte sisters and had close connections with each.  It's a fascinating period in history (1840s-1850s), when industrialization was transforming social and economic conventions.  North and South is not simply a romance - it is chock full of debates about gender roles, class conflict, and social justice issues, 19th century style.  It's a very intelligent, thought-provoking, thoroughly enjoyable work.  I certainly recommended it for fans of Austen, Dickens, and the Brontes.  And for romantic socialists.

To clarify: Yes, there is another book called North and South, published by John Jakes in 1982.  Yes, it is about the antebellum United States.  Yes, I have been in love with Orry Main (and perhaps George Hazard as well) since approximately the age of eight.  I have never read the book, but the 1980s miniseries is pretty wonderful.  A whole lot trashier than Victorian England, though...