North and South

Title: North and South

Author: Elizabeth Gaskell

Publisher: Penguin Books

Genre: Classic, Historical Fiction, Victorian era, romance

Source: Kindle Own

My Review:

I finally did it! I finally read North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell!! Did I love it? No. Did I hate it? No. It had an interesting storyline that kept me invested. I did, at times, feel the length of the novel and felt it could have been shorter, LOL!

At times, with the dialect and stuff, I didn't always understand what was going on. Normally, I wouldn't read a book with a lot of dialect, but there was something about the story that kept me going. I guess I wanted to see how it all ended. There were times I was like, why am I still reading this?! But I enjoyed the characters, and I enjoyed Margaret's character growth and the unlikely friendships she formed.

I was reading some reviews and I came across one that was pretty funny, but true, basically, everyone dies, and Margaret wants out of the book. I am not trying to poke fun; I would not want Margaret's life for anything. She has had a lot of death and hardships to deal with, but she does bear them well. Her life seems to be one tragedy after another.

I went into this book with no expectations. I had no idea what it was about, or how it would play out. Overall, I am glad that I finally read this classic. 

★★★⋆/5

Synopsis (Goodreads):   

When her father leaves the Church in a crisis of conscience, Margaret Hale is uprooted from her comfortable home in Hampshire to move with her family to the north of England. Initially repulsed by the ugliness of her new surroundings in the industrial town of Milton, Margaret becomes aware of the poverty and suffering of the local mill workers and develops a passionate sense of social justice. This is intensified by her tempestuous relationship with the mill-owner and self-made man, John Thornton, as their fierce opposition over his treatment of his employees masks a deeper attraction.

In North and South, Elizabeth Gaskell skillfully fuses individual feeling with social concern, and in Margaret Hale creates one of the most original heroines of Victorian literature.