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North and South

North and South

Summary

'A really remarkable picture of the reality, as well as the prosperity, of northern industrial life, and an interesting examination of changing social conscience' Joanna Trollope

Milton is a sooty, noisy northern town centred around the cotton mills that employ most of its inhabitants. Arriving from a rural idyll in the south, Margaret Hale is initially shocked by the social unrest and poverty she finds in her new hometown. However, as she begins to befriend her neighbours, and her stormy relationship with the mill-owner John Thornton develops, she starts to see Milton in a different light.

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY JENNY UGLOW

Reviews

  • Gaskell saw the emotional and economic realities of ordinary life with a steely honesty
    The Times

About the author

Elizabeth Gaskell

Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-65) was born in London but grew up in the north of England in the village of Knutsford. Her first novel, Mary Barton, was published in 1848, winning the attention of Charles Dickens, and most of her later work was published in his journals. She was also a lifelong friend of Charlotte Brontë, whose biography she wrote.
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