Nicole Clarkston’s Reviews > Mary Barton > Status Update

This is getting interesting! I can't believe it so much as happened and I'm not even quite half done with the book.

I know there's a group read / discussion of this going on but I'm just wondering how it compares to our beloved N&S?

I am following the group read (actually, trailing in the dust is more like it). I'm glad to finally read this one. If you enjoy the N&S novel, it is definitely worth giving MB a whirl. Many similar themes, some characters are even recognizable with different names. I think it is funny that in both books, our hero's deceased father is named George. In this case, the heroine is Mary, who is friends with a Margaret. Reversed in N&S. Gaskell could never be accused of dreaming up outlandish and meaningless names!

Wives and Daughters is another of hers that I enjoyed very much.

I've only seen the adaptation on that one, but it is on my TBR pile

Wives and Daughters, NORTH and SOUTH and Cranford are the novels I have read and/or watched on TV or from DVDs. Love these works. Looking forward to your review on this one.

Wives and Daughters is an unfinished novel but the movie was given the expected ending.

Have read W&D and N&S,have watched Cranford and Return to Cranford. Can recommend all of them,but N&S will always hold a very special place in my heart.

Agreed, Mary! There is a reason that N&S was her most famous work. It has the best combination of despair and hope, I think. John Thornton has all of the dreamy fairy-tale-prince qualities of Darcy, but also the calloused hands and ethics of Jem Wilson. A wonderful blend of reality and romance!

Yes, agreed, Mary. Have watched all of those and started reading Cranford, but never finished it. Have read N&S and Wives and Daughters.