The story centers around Margaret Hale, the daughter of a former country vicar and his rather delicate wife, who have lived in the south of England all of Margaret's life. Her father abruptly breaks with his parish and moves the family to the northern industrial town of Milton, where he will work as a private tutor (hence, North and South). There, Margaret's eyes are opened to the harshness of factory life, and she frequently clashes with one of her father's pupils, plant manager John Thornton. You can probably guess where the story goes from there, but I recommend finding out for yourself rather than me telling you. However, since this is my blog, here are some of my impressions (SPOILER ALERT):
- Margaret is one of the best protagonists I've encountered in a long while, though to be fair, I haven't had much time for pleasure reading since I've been in college. She's certainly more likable than Katniss Everdeen (and I liked The Hunger Games, but Katniss is not the easiest protagonist to love), and far, far, far more likable than Bella Swan (or, as I like to call her, She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named). She is a little proud and maybe a bit sanctimonious, but she has the confidence and the strength of character to overcome these faults pretty well, unlike, say, Fanny Price.
- Speaking of Margaret, wow, she must have been so miserable the last half of that novel. I want and expect any main character to make some sacrifices, but good lord, Gaskell didn't give poor Margaret much of a break! She turns down a marriage proposal from a nice guy and worries about losing his friendship, has to leave her beloved hometown for dirty old Milton, and then has to deal with the deaths of the following important people: her new friend Bessy, her mother, her father, AND her godfather, not to mention at least three minor characters. Oh, and she also has to smuggle her fugitive brother in and out of the country so he can be with their mother before she dies, and is wracked with guilt over her lie to save him when he is almost caught on his way out. At least she has a happy marriage ahead of her.
- I tried to care about Bessy and Nicholas Higgins, I really did, and I did feel sad when Bessy died, but between the dialect and the dreariness, I ended up skimming through their parts. Sorry, Higginses! I still don't know what "clemming" means.
- The romance plot between Margaret and Thornton felt a little too much like Pride and Prejudice-lite to me. They verbally spar, but Thornton is taken with Margaret's spirit and beauty early on, while she plainly dislikes him. Thornton makes an Anguished Declaration of Love which is then soundly rejected at around the halfway point. However, Margaret (who I think was already in denial about obvious feelings when she turned Thornton down) slowly comes around to him after his kind deeds reveal a softer side of his personality, and his second proposal is readily accepted. For someone who has read Pride and Prejudice as many times as I have, the similarities were initially a little hard to swallow.
- However, two-thirds of the way through the book, I was desperate for Margaret and Thornton to get together. I mean, I knew they were going to, but I had this need to see them interact and realize how they felt
and get married and make beautiful babies. Even though they reminded me a bit too strongly of Elizabeth and Darcy, they had tremendous chemistry (yes, even in books there is such a thing), and this afternoon between classes I just flew through the book to see how their relationship would end up. - Confession: the ending was far too abrupt for my taste. It was cute, and it made me happy, but I wanted to know more (which is odd, considering the novel felt overly long in many other places
like everything with the freaking Higginses and Boucher oh my God). - Social commentary for the win, even if I did get bored with the Higginses.
- I know I've been pretty negative on the whole, but actually I really liked the book. I'm watching the 2004 miniseries on YouTube, and I want to read Gaskell's Wives and Daughters next, although I've heard it's unfinished.
- Guys, I read an entire book! A long one! From the 1800s! Part of me is ashamed that that's an accomplishment, because I love reading and used to devour books at an incredible pace. I read about forty percent of the novel today, though, which means I still really get into a book if I try hard enough. I'm a little disconcerted I have to try in the first place, but I'm glad I've still got the reading bug.
