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sarah_zaffiro's review
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
The beautifully-told story of an inconsequential country town in England. Gaskell is a master of the omniscient narrative: her perspective of English society and class, and her understanding of the ways of the human heart is deliciously intuitive. Gaskell somehow makes her heroine, Molly, immediately lovable; the reader rallies behind her throughout the novel. One also falls in love with her father, a seeming cynic with the kindest heart. It is truly incredible how dynamic these characters are made to be. I would give it a 5/5 but for the fact that there is no ending, unfortunately. Gaskell died suddenly before completing her novel . It’s definitely worth reading the 720 pages; any lover of 19th-century literature will be anything but disappointed.
Content Warnings
Minor: Chronic illness and Death
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