1000 Books Before You Die discussion

Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell

I liked this book, but found it disappointing compared with "North and South". The dialect was irritating in places. Towards the end of the book I felt the author was preaching her own opinion too much. While I mostly agreed with her, it seemed to interfere with telling the story.

This book looks good. I see it is Elizabeth Gaskell's first novel, so maybe her writing gets better by the time she writes North and South. I plan on reading both next year, but I will read Mary Barton first.

I have this book on my to-read list for 2018. I enjoyed North and South and Cranford, so I will definitely be reading more of her works.

I just finished this book and really enjoyed it. There were some very suspenseful chapters towards the end.

Same here. It’s quite impressive for a first novel.