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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
slow-paced
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a hard one to review. Overall, I think I liked it? But I can’t exactly tell you why other than it’s got some similarities to Pride and Prejudice and I like how John Thornton never gave up—even when he was hopeless—on his love for Margaret.
But this was so long, and parts of it draaaaaaged. It was also hard because, as an older novel, it’s written in that style of most older novels with long complicated paragraphs and subtle, almost hidden descriptions of plot points and story that have been buried into these long paragraphs.
Margaret is also not all that likeable the whole time—although I did grow to like her by the end of it, probably because I grew to hate everyone else.
I want so badly to like Mrs. Thornton, but I think I would need to see a reconciliation between her and Margaret. It would have been great if an ending scene had been included where Mrs. Thornton welcomes Margaret into her love as a true daughter and sees she cares for her son as much as she does.
Although, that would have made this already incredibly long story even longer.
While I loved John and Margaret got together in the end, I absolutely hate how we only get like two pages of it AND in those two pages nothing is ever said straight out.
Anyways, it’s a classic that I can find things I appreciate about it, but it’s not really something I might recommend to anyone.
But this was so long, and parts of it draaaaaaged. It was also hard because, as an older novel, it’s written in that style of most older novels with long complicated paragraphs and subtle, almost hidden descriptions of plot points and story that have been buried into these long paragraphs.
Margaret is also not all that likeable the whole time—although I did grow to like her by the end of it, probably because I grew to hate everyone else.
I want so badly to like Mrs. Thornton, but I think I would need to see a reconciliation between her and Margaret. It would have been great if an ending scene had been included where Mrs. Thornton welcomes Margaret into her love as a true daughter and sees she cares for her son as much as she does.
Although, that would have made this already incredibly long story even longer.
While I loved John and Margaret got together in the end, I absolutely hate how we only get like two pages of it AND in those two pages nothing is ever said straight out.
Anyways, it’s a classic that I can find things I appreciate about it, but it’s not really something I might recommend to anyone.
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book does a decent job of illustrating class divides in British society with the contextual nuance of rising or falling in economic and social status. It also demonstrates something I've found to be true in my own experience: that it's easy for someone to disdain a class of people in the abstract and to wilfully misunderstand their circumstances, but when people are receptive to opportunities to interact with - to build relationships or at least trust with and to genuinely listen to - real people with different lived experience, there's a possibility of real perspective change.
The narrative overtly comments on its thesis about industrial labor and class consciousness. It's less direct, but there's also a running theme of the performance of emotional labor in social systems; Margaret is noted as continuously having to suppress or set aside her own feelings and emotional needs in order to accommodate the people around her, and this is acknowledged as a form of uncompensated labor on which the surrounding social systems depend, and which crosses class divides.
Star deducted for failure to address the context of British colonialism, American slavery, and racism/supremacy culture and their significant implications to the narrative. Most notably,the book has Irish laborers brought over as knobsticks (scabs) to break the Milton strike, and both the owner class and working class characters express an unanalyzed stereotype that these Irish workers are stupid, poorly-skilled, and lack both long-term judgement and class solidarity in taking over the millwork from the British strikers. Nothing is said about Britain essentially forcing Ireland into famine and why the Irish workers would be so desperate as to accept being imported for cheap labor, or really even what importing laborers who are willing to accept lower wages and poorer conditions says about the manufacturers. There's a conversation about the differences between industrial labor in urban areas and farm labor in rural areas, and that the workers of either type would be poorly adapted to switch roles, but this analyses doesn't seem to be applied to the Irish workers' apparent lack of skill as textile mill operators.
Likewise, it's noted that the British textile industry is experiencing undercutting and uncertainty from American cotton, without the remotest acknowledgement that in the mid-1850s, American cotton labor was performed by enslaved people and the American commodities market was fast approaching a civil war over abolition. This particular flavor of racism is ignored entirely, while a minor incident in the narrative actively perpetuates racist stereotypes of Romani people.
The narrative overtly comments on its thesis about industrial labor and class consciousness. It's less direct, but there's also a running theme of the performance of emotional labor in social systems; Margaret is noted as continuously having to suppress or set aside her own feelings and emotional needs in order to accommodate the people around her, and this is acknowledged as a form of uncompensated labor on which the surrounding social systems depend, and which crosses class divides.
Star deducted for failure to address the context of British colonialism, American slavery, and racism/supremacy culture and their significant implications to the narrative. Most notably,
Likewise, it's noted that the British textile industry is experiencing undercutting and uncertainty from American cotton, without the remotest acknowledgement that in the mid-1850s, American cotton labor was performed by enslaved people and the American commodities market was fast approaching a civil war over abolition. This particular flavor of racism is ignored entirely, while a minor incident in the narrative actively perpetuates racist stereotypes of Romani people.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent, Classism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Racism, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Colonisation
Minor: Violence, Injury/Injury detail
Did I like this book? No, no. I did not. It made me want to hurl it across the kitchen many times. It's infuriating in many ways. There's a kind of virtuousness in all the characters that becomes incredibly irritating after a while. Everyone is just so annoyingly moral, even when they're not. But I had some patience for it - thinking about how women in this era were meant to be the beacons of virtue. A Victorian woman could likely not have gotten away with writing a single immoral character. And she does not. Which is boring as hell but I forgive her. It is sort of interesting watching a woman try and operate within those kinds of strictures.
The other thing that drove me bananas was how demonized striking was for the people who lived in this mill town. The book is intensely sympathetic to the owners and suggests that a strike is a terrible terrible sin. I was constantly wanting to shout at the book, "Sometimes a strike is necessary! The workers deserve not to starve to death when the bosses can have fancy parties and throw expensive weddings and what not!"
I also hated the romance. It was obvious and annoying and inevitable. Yes, of course these boring moral people are going to get together. Snooze-ville.
But. I will say that reading the introduction of this novel, after I read it, sort of turned me around a little bit. I came to understand that the author had previously written a book that was sympathetic to workers and been called a class traitor so she was clearly reeling with some class confusion in this one. I came to understand a bit more about the context of the times, of mills and what people were talking about around them politically. As a woman she wasn't supposed to talk about this sort of thing, but she did anyway. And for that I'm glad I read this book. I feel like the best place to read it would be in a history class. It's not that satisfying as a novel but as an historical document, it is very interesting.
The other thing that drove me bananas was how demonized striking was for the people who lived in this mill town. The book is intensely sympathetic to the owners and suggests that a strike is a terrible terrible sin. I was constantly wanting to shout at the book, "Sometimes a strike is necessary! The workers deserve not to starve to death when the bosses can have fancy parties and throw expensive weddings and what not!"
I also hated the romance. It was obvious and annoying and inevitable. Yes, of course these boring moral people are going to get together. Snooze-ville.
But. I will say that reading the introduction of this novel, after I read it, sort of turned me around a little bit. I came to understand that the author had previously written a book that was sympathetic to workers and been called a class traitor so she was clearly reeling with some class confusion in this one. I came to understand a bit more about the context of the times, of mills and what people were talking about around them politically. As a woman she wasn't supposed to talk about this sort of thing, but she did anyway. And for that I'm glad I read this book. I feel like the best place to read it would be in a history class. It's not that satisfying as a novel but as an historical document, it is very interesting.
Gaskell really makes one wait for the romantic payoff, but OOF that final page and a half just made my mushy heart sing.
This is a book that I didn't want to finish, knowing I would greatly miss it. I will read this book again along with my other classical favorites.
This story has always been so close to my heart (since I've grown up watching the BBC 2004 adaptation) that it has been an enormous pleasure to finally read it. I loved it so much, every single aspect of it. I like how it not only focuses on the romantic side but also on the social problems plaguing society at that time. I love John Thornton, I think he grows a lot throughout the entire story, Margaret as well.
Well, I'm so happy!
Well, I'm so happy!
Reading this was sort of like discovering another Jane Austen, but Gaskell is more political. In this novel, first published in 1855, the heroine, Margaret Hale, must move from the rural south of England to the Industrial north. There, she is exposed to the tension between owners and workers, as she meets and befriends people on both sides of this divide. There is a strike, and it is clear that Gaskell is not much in favor of this tactic. But she doesn’t shrink from the novelist’s task of understanding what drives each of her characters.
I also enjoyed the love story at the heart of this novel. It’s a bit like Pride and Prejudice, with Margaret Hale first sitting in judgment of those who are involved in trade. Then the situation is reversed, when the hero learns something that appears to sully Margaret’s reputation.
One thing that hadn’t changed since Austen was writing: Margaret Hale has very little power to move her love affair forward. In order to preserve their dignity, women had to be passive in the face of love. In this situation, the Fates have a field day, throwing the lovers far apart before finally bringing them together.
I also enjoyed the love story at the heart of this novel. It’s a bit like Pride and Prejudice, with Margaret Hale first sitting in judgment of those who are involved in trade. Then the situation is reversed, when the hero learns something that appears to sully Margaret’s reputation.
One thing that hadn’t changed since Austen was writing: Margaret Hale has very little power to move her love affair forward. In order to preserve their dignity, women had to be passive in the face of love. In this situation, the Fates have a field day, throwing the lovers far apart before finally bringing them together.
AMAZING. Favorite book of 2024 and honestly in the top 3 for me of all time. It was so good