Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, née Stevenson (29 September 1810 – 12 November 1865), often referred to simply as Mrs. Gaskell, was an English novelist and short story writer during the Victorian era. Her novels offer a detailed portrait of the lives of many strata of society, including the very poor, and as such are of interest to social historians as well as lovers of literature.
So this is me tracking the re-read (or rather, re-listen—though I’m not sure how I consumed it the first time) of “North and South.” It’s an imperfect book, but utterly delightful, and very comparable to both “Pride and Prejudice” and “Jane Eyre” in terms of plot. The language is more workmanlike than Bronte’s lovely prose, and the dialogue less sparkling than Austen’s bright badinage, but “North and South” has a homely charm that deserves more recognition.
Not the Civil War novel of the same name by John Jakes, but instead a great Victorian novel about the differences between the North and South of England, between classes, between philosophies, and between men and women, all capped off by a perfect mismatched romance.