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North and South (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

~ (Author), Patricia Ingham (Contributor) "'Edith!' said Margaret, gently, 'Edith!'..." (more)
Key Phrases: Miss Hale, Captain Lennox, Harley Street (more...)
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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

When her father leaves the Church, 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 local mill workers and develops a passionate sense of social justice. In "North and South", Gaskell skillfully fused individual feeling with social concern and in Margaret Hale created one of the most original heroines of Victorian literature.


From the Publisher

Founded in 1906 by J.M. Dent, the Everyman Library has always tried to make the best books ever written available to the greatest number of people at the lowest possible price. Unique editorial features that help Everyman Paperback Classics stand out from the crowd include: a leading scholar or literary critic's introduction to the text, a biography of the author, a chronology of her or his life and times, a historical selection of criticism, and a concise plot summary. All books published since 1993 have also been completely restyled: all type has been reset, to offer a clarity and ease of reading unique among editions of the classics; a vibrant, full-color cover design now complements these great texts with beautiful contemporary works of art. But the best feature must be Everyman's uniquely low price. Each Everyman title offers these extensive materials at a price that competes with the most inexpensive editions on the market-but Everyman Paperbacks have durable binding, quality paper, and the highest editorial and scholarly standards. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 480 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin Classics (June 1, 1996)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0140434240
  • ISBN-13: 978-0140434248
  • Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #48,268 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Angus Easson
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Elizabeth Gaskell
Elizabeth Gaskell

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'Edith!' said Margaret, gently, 'Edith!' Read the first page
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Miss Hale, Captain Lennox, Harley Street, Henry Lennox, Master Frederick, Nicholas Higgins, Miss Margaret, Sir John, Bessy Higgins, Marlborough Street, Mary Higgins, Captain Reid, Marlborough Mills, John Thornton, Miss Thornton, John Boucher, Aunt Hale, Lady Beresford, Lieutenant Hale, Miss Dixon, New Forest
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43 Reviews
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4.4 out of 5 stars (43 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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84 of 89 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Gaskell's Victorian novel with modern ideas, February 4, 2004
I agree with a lot that is written in the previous reviews here. Yes, there is a very slow start to this novel. I wonder whether that's because it was first serialized by Dickens, and Mrs. Gaskell was paid by the word. And, yes, the ending is rather abrupt, especially preceded by the last few slow chapters. Maybe Dickens lost his patience.

In so many ways, though, this novel is a treasure. It's not easy to write a political novel with a strong love story and good characterizations. Gaskell takes on quite a bit and mostly succeeds in her task of describing the changes industrialization brought to England. She balances her sympathy for the workers in the factories with the dilemmas posed to the mill owners by new machinery, competition from abroad, and the threats of potential workers' strikes. She contrasts very effectively the excitement of this new way of life against the nostalgia for the agrarian past. These were new concepts in Victorian England, but they are not so foreign today that we cannot readily understand their significance.

She gives us a sympathetic and spirited heroine in Margaret Hale, who is wise beyond her years. Another colorful character is Nicholas Higgins. I found myself looking forward to his scenes because he provides the humor in an almost-humorless book. (It is funny at the end, though, and I would have liked to have seen more of this tone.)

Mr. Thornton is a character we can readily identify with--someone who triumphs over adversity and seeks to constantly better himself. Someone with high standards, yet none higher than he holds himself to. Margaret is his match in every way.

I did see many plot similarities with "Pride and Prejudice" in the love story. We have characters of different class backgrounds who are initially repelled but who come to appreciate each other and are kept apart by misunderstandings and circumstances. The proposal scenes are strikingly familiar, and the first proposal includes almost the same language (re gentlemanlike behavior) that Elizabeth speaks to Darcy. And we have a Lady Catherine DeBourgh character in Mrs. Thornton, who does her best to drive the lovers apart. But I can't fault Mrs. Gaskell for borrowing plotlines from the master. Although Gaskell is a strong writer, she does not quite have Jane Austen's gift for revealing the humanity in her characters with humor and affection. There is not much "fun" and no banter (until the very last lines of the book) in the North and South love story.

There are many plot contrivances and conveniences, too, which compel us to suspend disbelief. A few too many rapid deaths, a character's coincidental presence at a key scene, another character showing up in an unexpected place, and more. But these limitations serve to drive the story and allow us to focus on the strong moral characters of our central characters and our strong wish for their eventual reconciliation.

In the Penguin edition, it is also rather disturbing to find the plot given away in the footnotes. I read the footnotes religiously to orient myself, but I don't understand why they have to mention so many plot occurrences (especially big things like deaths and proposals) ahead of time. So, if you don't want to know how things go, read the footnotes (and preface) judiciously.

OK, I've written a lot of negatives and yet I give the book 4 stars. Despite its flaws, North and South takes on a lot and mainly succeeds. I love its ambition and its great heart. I love that I learned a lot about English history at that particular time. I love that it rewarded me for getting through those first 150 pages with a rich, compelling story. I love that Mrs. Gaskell held my interest to the end. As Victorian novels go, this is surprisingly modern and a worthwhile read.

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41 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Far better the second time around!, September 19, 2006
It'd been a long time (a decade or so) since I read this Elizabeth Gaskell classic before I watched the BBC adaptation on DVD and loved it. Rereading this novel was the best decision I could have made because I hadn't appreciated it then the way I did now. North and South captures the social divide and how the manufacturing and trading industries were revolutionizing in the 1850s. Margaret Hale, the daughter of a respectable clergyman, and her family move from the south of England to the industrialized northern town of Milton after her father leaves the church because of his conscience. Margaret is appalled with Milton and the vulgar, uncouth ways of tradesmen and merchants, whom she also sees as uncivilized and cruel. However, will she change her mind after she meets and gets to know the dashing Mr. John Thornton? There are many twists throughout the novel.

I was able to appreciate the romance and building of tension between Margaret and Mr. Thornton now, especially after having watched the BBC miniseries and the wonderful Richard Armitage playing Thornton. Right now, to me, there are four memorable classic literary heroes -- Mr. Darcy, Heathcliff, Mr. Rochester and now Mr. Thornton. He is gentler and not as brooding here as he is portrayed in the miniseries, but he is as compelling as I had remembered him. The last few pages are my favorite, especially this line: "While she sought for this paper, her very heart-pulse was arrested by the tone in which Mr. Thornton spoke. His voice was hoarse, and trembling with tender passion, as he said: `Margaret.' " What a romantic line and I wish it had been added to the miniseries. The ending at the train station in the miniseries is wonderful (if a bit anachronistic), but it would have been even better if the aforementioned line had been incorporated into the scene. All in all, this is one of my favorite Victorian classics. Elizabeth Gaskell isn't quite as known or as celebrated as Dickens or the Brontes, people who had been big friends of hers, according to her biography, but she was a gifted writer in her own right and her talent shows in this wonderful gem which I will reread again in the not-so-distant future.
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29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly modern tale of class conflict, management theory, and of course, love, February 6, 2007
I read the book, like many other reviewers here, after I had watched the brilliant BBC miniseries starring Richard Armitage and Daniela Denby-Ashe. I definitely agree with the comments of many reviewers here that you somehow seem to develop a finer appreciation of the nuances of both after doing that.

A lot of reviewers have covered the ground admirably on the story itself, so I won't go into too much detail on that. In addition to the fine development of plot and characters alike, what I found refreshing about the novel were:

a. Unlike a few other writers of her time, Elizabeth Gaskell focuses a lot more on the thought processes and feelings of the male characters in the novel. For example, you don't get to hear a lot of what Darcy or Edward Ferrars are thinking in Pride and Prejudice, or Sense and Sensibility, except almost tangentially. In sharp contrast, Mrs. Gaskell gives quite a detailed peep into what John Thornton and Richard Hale are thinking, throughout the novel. As someone who is always interested in the differences in thought processes between the sexes, I found this to be refreshingly different from other novels of the time.

b. Being in business, it was quite a new experience to read about John Thornton's evolution first as a business owner and then as a "leader", to use that overused term of today. Mrs. Gaskell appears to have a remarkably sophisticated understanding of both management and labor issues. The examples that stand out in my mind - John Thornton's increasing interest in exploring a better construct for labor-management relations beyond the mere "cash nexus" (towards the end of the novel), and his practice of building what we would call a business case today, as he asks Nicholas Higgins to put some figures together for the new cafeteria.

c. A valuable peep into the mores of the time - for example, despite being fond of Bessy Higgins, Margaret recoils in horror at the thought of visiting her after Bessy's death, a point glossed over in the BBC mini-series, - it gives you a rare insight into things like death and burial customs of the time,.

I must agree with a few other reviewers that the last few chapters seem a little rushed, but from an overall perspective, it is hard to beat this novel for its pure wholesome enjoyment value - more serious and deep than a Pride and Prejudice, and still light enough for people like me who cannot take Thomas Hardy. A definite five stars!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Where have I been? How come I never heard of this novel for so long? It is a treasure of a novel, get it if you like reading. Read more
Published 5 months ago by E. Kaya

5.0 out of 5 stars Pride and Predjudice for the Industrial Age
Excellent and thought provoking novel, along the lines of Pride and Predjudice. Great storyline realistic exploration of class status, religion in practice vs philosophy, and a... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Alma K

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful adaptation of North and South
Read the book and amazing how this followed the beautiful story theme. A wonderful love story with a talented cast . Read more
Published 7 months ago by A. Papantonakis

5.0 out of 5 stars Passionate Characters You'll Love Getting To Know
As so many others, I had never even heard of Gaskell until I saw (and loved!) the BBC miniseries of this book. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Janeite

4.0 out of 5 stars North and South book
This book by Elizabeth Gaskell is a must read for fans of the BBC mini series or basically just about anyone! It's a keeper.
Published 8 months ago by lissab68

5.0 out of 5 stars The More Things Change. . .
The more things change, the more they stay the same! In this present time of financial crisis, it is, perhaps, comforting to know that this cycle occured in the past, as it does... Read more
Published 10 months ago by E. K. Johnson

2.0 out of 5 stars Too long and detailed
This is the first Elizabeth Gaskell book I've ever read and unfortunately not very impressed. The overall subject seems to be the love story in our heroine's life, however, book... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Moony

5.0 out of 5 stars Will read it again and again!
After having seen the BBC's version of North & South, I couldn't wait to read the book. I wasn't disappointed at all! Read more
Published 20 months ago by Marcelle M. McGuirk

5.0 out of 5 stars An excelent book to any person
You have to get familiar with the characters and then you slowly star to love them all.
At the beggining I felt sorry to poor Mr Lennox,he was a Miss Hale's friend but he... Read more
Published on November 12, 2007 by Calderon Vanessa

3.0 out of 5 stars A Botch. Not as Good as the Splendid 2004 BBC Miniseries.
The best thing about Elizabeth Gaskell's "North and South" may be that it inspired the superlative 2004 BBC miniseries by the same name. Read more
Published on May 29, 2007 by Danusha Goska

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