North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

I don't know how many "English-author" lovers we have here on the blog...(I'm one) but I was so grateful to be introduced to Elizabeth Gaskell. "North and South" is my favorite of her titles I have read so far. Our bookclub read this last year and there wasn't one woman who didn't LOVE it! We then read "Wives and Daughters" by the same author... we loved it too. I'll leave that review for another post. (Both of these are available on DVD from the BBC. If you love A&E's Pride and Prejudice...you will love these. Check your library. Chances are there's a waiting list.)

The story of "North and South" takes place in England. Margaret father has a crisis of faith and decides he can no longer remain a minister. He moves the family away from their beloved country home and into a manufacturing city where he tries to work as a teacher. The conflict between the mill owners and the mill workers (the haves and the have-nots) becomes one of the central themes in the book. I was surprised to find myself taking such an interest in both points of view. Margaret finds herself conflicted between her care and compassion for the workers and her interest in Mr. Thornton, a mill owner and student of her father's, which she tries to ignore.

The broken English of the mill workers was at first hard to read...but I found if I just moved my eyes over the words, instead of trying to figure out what each one spelled, I could hear the accent in my head and understand, very clearly, their speaking.

I give this an easy 5 stars. Don't let the movie replace reading the book! Our book group loved it, even those leary of reading a "classic". It's rated PG. No language or anything to over look. Some hard life moments. A fabulous romance!