Title: North and South
Author: Elizabeth Gaskell
Rating: 5/5 stars
Synopsis: 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.
My thoughts: How could I possibly describe the complexity of feelings Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South evoked
in me? It won my heart completely. The basic oppositions in the book –
north and south, light and dark, leisure and work, humility and pride –
grow into something deeper than their simple selves throughout the
pages. The main characters, Margaret and Mr. Thornton seem to represent
the two parts of England and with it two kinds of lifestyle. Maybe at
first we idolize the south ourselves, looking at it through Margaret’s
eyes, and think Milton is hell compared to it, but later it seems just
so natural to alter our opinions. I personally found Milton a great deal
more interesting a place than Helstone – and not only because the love
between Margaret and Mr. Thornton unfolded there, but because I
strangely became interested in the class struggle that was part of the
plot too. It was fascinating how the workmen organized the strike, and
so were the things Mr. Thornton said about the relationship between
‘hands’ and masters.
I also liked to read about the great development in
the latter towards the end of the book. Of course I melted every time
Margaret’s thoughts about Mr. Thornton were expressed, but even more
when I learned about Thornton’s thoughts about Margaret. The man has
such a gentle heart, I always held my breath out of excitement when I
came to read his musings on the beloved woman.
Thornton’s mother is a
very well written character, it was entertaining to read her parts too,
because she made me go ‘who this woman thinks she is’ many
times. She is a very strong mother figure and I liked how protective she
was of her son.
I feel I could go on forever and ever rambling about my
favourite characters and parts, but I won’t. When I started to read
this book I thought it was going to be about a girl, who moves from the
south to the north, falls in love with a miller and, after having to
face some difficulties, eventually they settle down with each other. Now
that I’ve read it I can tell you, North and South is much more
than this. It is an Experience and it is most certainly recommended to
everyone (especially if you’ve read and like/d Jane Austen’s novels).
