Cover of North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell Audiobook North and South
Audiobook · Sovereign

North and South

Author
Elizabeth Gaskell
Read by
Eloise Fairfax
Language
English
Length
17 hours 4 minutes
ISBN
9781802561029
Published
15 October 2024
Imprint
Sovereign
  • England
  • Industrial Revolution
  • social inequality
  • class conflict
  • labor relations
  • cotton mills
  • urbanization
  • agricultural South
  • industrial North
  • factory workers

Description

"North and South" by Elizabeth Gaskell is a novel set in the mid-19th century, exploring the clash between the industrial North and the agricultural South of England. The story follows Margaret Hale, a young woman from the South who moves to the industrial town of Milton in the North with her family after her father resigns from his position as a parson due to a crisis of faith. The novel explores themes of social inequality, class conflict, and the changing landscape of 19th century England. Through Margaret and John's relationship, Gaskell portrays the need for understanding and compromise between opposing factions, and the potential for personal growth and transformation in the face of challenging circumstances.

Author

Elizabeth Gaskell (1810–1865) widened the Victorian novel's moral imagination. Published by Dickens in Household Words and admired by contemporaries from Ruskin to George Eliot, she wrote fiction that refused to look away from social suffering — child labour, class division, the hidden cost of industrial progress — while never losing warmth or narrative pleasure.

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